Clashes between the Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels intensified in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Wednesday, military sources from both sides said.

The clashes took place in the village of al-Shab in the district of Hays in the south of the port city.

Local residents said tanks, artillery and heavy machine guns were used in the ongoing battle, forcing many families to flee the village.

There were no reports yet about casualties. Both warring sides blamed each other for breaching cease-fire.

Part of the province, including the port city, is under control of the Houthi rebels, while the government forces have advanced to the southern districts.

Hodeidah has seen a shaky cease-fire between the government and the Houthi rebels since the two sides reached a United Nations-sponsored truce agreement in Stockholm in December 2018.

The United Nations is trying to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

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 internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.