A prisoner swap between Yemen's Houthi group and the al-Qaida terrorist group took place last Friday in Yemen's central province of al-Bayda, a military official told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Six fighters of the Houthi group were set free in exchange for the release of six terrorist al-Qaida elements from the Houthi-controlled jails in al-Bayda province, the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

The source based in al-Bayda gave no further details about the prisoner swap that occurred last Friday after local tribal mediation.

The Houthis-affiliated media outlets reported that "six detainees of the army forces were set free from the enemy's jails in al-Bayda front."

The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch released short footage on social media, showing a number of masked gunmen greeting each other in a mountainous area of al-Bayda.

It was commented on the footage by al-Qaida as that "this was during the reception of our freed brothers after conducting a prisoner exchange with the Houthi group."

The Houthi group controls Yemen's capital Sanaa and most of the country's northern provinces, while al-Qaida group operates in several Yemeni provinces exploiting the current security vacuum.