Pro-government Yemeni forces announced on Friday that an attack launched by the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah was aborted after brief clashes.

"The Houthi fighters launched an attack and attempted to besiege the positions of the joint pro-government forces in Tuhyata district that's located to the south of Hodeidah," a military source told Xinhua.

The Hodeidah-based source said on condition of anonymity "the pro-government forces engaged in armed confrontations with the Houthis and thwarted the rebels attack."

"The Houthis suffered casualties during their attack and their military vehicles were destroyed by the pro-government forces," he added.

Elsewhere in Hodeidah, the pro-government Giants Brigades said that the Houthis bombarded with artillery shells areas in Durayhmi district south of Hodeidah.

On the other hand, the Houthis-affiliated Masirah television network reported that the pro-government forces fired around 21 mortar shells against the area of Kilo16 in Hodeidah.

It said that different areas controlled by the Houthi rebels were shelled by the pro-government forces in Hodeidah.

The Iran-allied Houthi rebels control much of Hodeidah while the Saudi-backed government troops have advanced to the southeastern districts.

Yemen has been locked in a civil war since the Houthi rebels seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that has intervened in Yemen's conflict since 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The prolonged military conflict has aggravated the suffering of Yemenis and deepened the world's worst humanitarian crisis.