Two Yemeni deminers were killed and two others seriously injured on Saturday in a powerful explosion triggered by an anti-tank landmine in the country's northern province of Saada, a government official said.

The two demining experts affiliated with the government forces were killed during a demining operation in Albuqa'a area of Saada province, the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

He said that Albuqa'a and various other areas bordering Saudi Arabia have been heavily laid with mines by the Houthi rebels.

In April, the Yemeni government requested immediate international assistance to tackle the country's grave landmine crisis that poses a major hurdle to restoring stability.

Previous reports by humanitarian organizations said Yemen has become one of the world's largest landmine fields since World War II.

Yemeni demining experts said that more than 1 million landmines have been laid since the outbreak of the civil war in late 2014 when the Houthi militia took control of several northern provinces and forced the Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.