At least 10 Houthi rebels were killed in an attack by government forces in the northern Saada province on Sunday, a military commander said.

Brigadier-General Abdul Hakim Fadel said army forces backed by Saudi-led coalition warplanes attacked Houthi positions in Saada, according to the official Saba news agency.He said several rebels were injured in the attack, but without giving an exact number.

There was no comment from the Shia Houthi group on the claim.

Saada is the stronghold of the Houthi group, which overran much of Yemen, including capital Sanaa in 2014.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen.

The ongoing violence has devastated Yemen’s basic infrastructure, prompting the UN to describe the situation as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.