The Yemen civil war flared on Tuesday. China’s Xinhua news agency quotes a security official as saying that government forces traded gunfire with Houthi rebels in the southwestern province of Taiz, killing six people.

The official said Houthi fighters had attempted to infiltrate government positions in the Ad Dimnah area, about 14 miles southeast of Taiz city. Four Houthi militiamen and two government soldiers died in the ensuing clash.

A civil war has wracked Yemen since 2014, when Houthi Shiite rebels, backed by Iran, took up arms against the government. A pro-government coalition backed by the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates has been battling the Houthis since 2015. Saudi Arabia has benefited from US military support, but that aid became controversial when it became clear that Saudi airstrikes killed substantial numbers of civilians. US President Joe Biden ended his support for Saudi offensive operations in 2021.