At least seven Houthi militants in Yemen were killed by the Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes in the southwestern province of Taiz on Thursday, a military official said.

The militants were killed during airstrikes launched by coalition warplanes at a Houthi site in Taiz, the local military source said on condition of anonymity.

He said that the airstrikes also struck a weapons cache on the western side of Taiz, causing an explosion.

Intense armed confrontations also occurred between the pro-government Yemeni forces and Houthi fighters in Taiz's countryside during the past days.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government.