Yemen's Houthi rebels fired a rocket that landed near a densely populated area in the southern province of Dhalea on Thursday, a government official told Xinhua.

"A Katyusha rocket fired by the Houthi rebels landed near a densely populated area in the south of Dhalea, causing no casualties," the government source said on condition of anonymity.

The Houthi rocket was fired indiscriminately and targeted a non-military area, he added.

The Houthi rebels frequently launch mortar shells and Katyusha rockets on residential areas controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in Dhalea.

The pro-government Yemeni forces managed to make on-ground advances and managed to expel the Houthi rebels from several villages in Dhalea during the past weeks.

In April, the Iranian-allied Houthi fighters launched a series of intense armed attacks on the positions of government forces and succeeded in seizing the district of Al Husha in the west of Dhalea.

The areas in the north and west of Dhalea, 138 km north of Aden, have been witnessing non-stop fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters for about four years.

Yemen has been plagued by a civil war since late 2014 after Houthi rebels revolted and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.