The Yemeni government and its foe Houthi rebels exchanged 20 prisoners through a tribal mediation on Monday, a government military official said.

"A total of 10 soldiers and 10 rebels were set free," Yahya al-Hasir, head of the prisoners committee, told AFP by phone.

The swap took place in Moton district in the government-controlled northeastern province of Jawf.

Previous local mediation had succeeded in several swap deals between the rival forces.

Yemen has been plagued in a civil war since late 2014 after the Houthi rebels overran the capital Sanaa and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.