A Yemeni senior military official and eight soldiers were killed in battle with the Houthi rebels in Yemen's northeastern province of al-Jawf, a local medical source said on Monday , Xinhua reported.

General Mohammed Ali al-Roqn, commander of the 122 Brigade, along with eight soldiers, were killed in the battle on Sunday in al-Jadafir area east of Houthi-held al-Hazm in al-Jawf.

Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik said in a statement carried by the official Saba news agency that "al-Roqn was killed while leading military operations against the Houthi militia in al-Jawf."

Saba also reported that dozens of Houthi fighters were killed by the government forces in the battle and several sites in the area were recaptured by the army.

The Houthi group, which controls much of the province, has made no comment.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi group seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.