Yemeni government forces have announced a new advance against Iran-allied Al Houthis in the militia’s stronghold of Saada in the country’s far north.

Government troops captured strategically important hilltops after an attack on the militiamen in the district of Al Thabet in north-western Saada, the army’s news portal September 26 reported.

Fighting between both sides resulted in casualties and hardware losses among Al Houthis in the area, according to the report. The militiamen also suffered losses due to artillery shelling by the army of their gatherings in the same area.

In late 2014, Al Houthis plunged Yemen in a devastating war after they toppled the country’s internationally recognised government and overran parts of it including the capital Sana’a.

In March 2015, an Arab alliance led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, intervened in Yemen in response to a request from the government there after Al Houthis advanced on the southern city of Aden, the country’s provisional capital.

In recent months, the UN has stepped up its efforts to end Yemen’s war that has pushed the impoverished country to the verge of famine.