The Yemeni army yesterday announced that seven Houthi fighters were killed and 15 wounded in clashes west of Taiz Governorate, south of the country.

Saba News Agency quoted an unnamed military source saying that the confrontations, which lasted a number of hours, saw “Houthi militias intensified their artillery shelling on residential neighbourhoods in Bir Basha, Dhabab and old airport quarter,” without mentioning further details.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthi movement regarding the statements made by the military source.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital of Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched an air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis as millions remain at risk of starvation.