Dozens of families have fled Houthi-held areas in south-west Yemen as rebel fighters try to forcibly recruit children and extort money from locals, people who have escaped told The National.

Displaced residents said the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been going house to house demanding recruits to join the front lines.

“In the last couple of months, the Houthis called on all the residents living in our area, Al Aoud, to send their sons to the front to boost their fighters in Al Fakher area," one resident said.

"We rejected their calls and consequently they arrested many fathers and took their sons to the front.

“They have been wreaking havoc in my village, they stormed our school and turned it to weapons depots and repeatedly forced us to pay money to fund their fronts.

"Lately they forced many families to leave their homes and turned them to fortifications because they expect the pro-Coalition forces to advance to capture the area.

Capt Fuad Jubari, spokesman for the Southern Forces fighting the Houthi rebels in northern Al Dhalea, told The National his forces had secured safe corridors to allow residents to flee from Al Aoud to safe areas in northern Qatabah.

“We have been working hard to help the civilians being oppressed by the Houthi rebels in Al Aoud villages to areas under the control of our forces,” Capt Jubari said.

“What has been done by the Houthis in Al Aoud areas is really horrible. They have been committing crimes against innocent civilians.”

He condemned the silence from international bodies and human rights organisations on the matter.

Elsewhere, pro-Yemeni government forces repelled a rebel attack in the contentious Hodeidah district over the weekend, killing several Houthi fighters.

“Seven Houthi fighters were killed when two Houthi groups tried to penetrate sites controlled by the Joint Forces in Al Fazah area, in Al Tuhaiyta district in southern Hodeidah, on Saturday,” Col Wathah Al Dubaish, spokesman of the Joint Forces, told The National.

“The two Houthi groups, which carried out the attack, included fighters carrying light weapons such as Kalashnikovs, RPG launchers."

Col Al Dubaish said the Iran-backed rebels snuck into the Khandak Al Thouban post in northern Al Fazah but were seen and seven of them were killed. The rest fled.

“The new Houthi attack was documented by our forces and sent to the UN monitors as new evidence that proves the Houthis' continuous attempts to end the UN ceasefire and to undermine the efforts exerted by the UN to promote the peace process,” he said.