A boy, 4, was killed alongside his grandmother when a mortar attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck a wedding party in Yemen.

The attack was launched on a neighbourhood in Hays city, southern Hodeidah, in western Yemen on Thursday.

"Houthi rebels shelled a house owned by a citizen called Ahmed Saeed Al Musayab in Al Souq neighbourhood, during a wedding party,” Col Wathah Al Dubaish, spokesman for the Joint Forces in Hodeidah, told The National.

Col Al Dubaish said the boy, Saeed Ahmed Saeed, died with his grandmother, Saud Salem, 60, before they could reach hospital.

A girl, Aziza Ahmed, 7, was badly wounded.

On Thursday, clashes between the Houthi rebels and pro-government forces backed by the Arab Coalition intensified in Qaniya, in the central Yemen province of Al Bayda.

“The Houthi rebels attempted to make progress in Qaniya, aiming to take over the area downtown," said Mustafa Al Baydani, spokesman for the public resistance in Al Bayda.

"But all their attempts were foiled by pro-government forces and tribes, backed by Arab Coalition aircraft."