Pro-government Yemeni forces launched a military operation against the Houthi rebel group in the country's southwestern province of Taiz on Friday, a military official said.

According to the military official who asked to remain anonymous, "units of the 17th Infantry Brigade of the pro-government Yemeni army attacked a number of sites controlled by the Houthi militia in the northwestern part of Taiz."

The source said that the anti-Houthi military operation killed five rebels and injured several others following fierce armed confrontations.

"The Houthi rebels were forced to withdraw from their sites as the pro-government forces surrounded the area and stationed there," he said.

No information, however, was given about casualties among the soldiers of the government during the exchange of fire with the Houthi rebels in Taiz.

The Yemeni government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have been locked in clashes with the Iran-allied Houthi military in the north, east and west of Taiz since April 2015.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.