At least 12 members of the Houthi group were killed Tuesday as pro-government Yemeni forces repulsed a rebel attack in the country's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a military official said.

According to the military source who asked to remain anonymous, "the Houthi militia launched a large-scale armed attack against the government military locations in Tuhyata district."

"The government soldiers valiantly engaged in intense armed confrontations with the Houthis and aborted their assault," the source said.

He confirmed that the government forces killed around 12 Houthi attackers and injured several others during the fighting.

"Two military vehicles belonging to the Houthis were destroyed during the armed confrontations with the government forces," the source added.

Hodeidah has seen a shaky cease-fire between the government forces of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels since both sides reached a UN-sponsored truce in Stockholm in December 2018.

Part of the strategic port city is under control of the Houthi rebels, while the government forces have advanced to the southern and eastern outskirts.

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 Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.