A prisoner swap between Yemen's government forces and the Houthi rebels took place on Friday in the country's northern province of al-Jawf, a military official told Xinhua.

The military official who preferred to remain anonymous said that tribal mediation efforts succeeded in exchanging about 26 prisoners between the government forces and the Houthis in al-Jawf.

He clarified that nearly 13 prisoners of the Houthi group were set free in exchange for the release of 13 government soldiers during the swap process supervised by tribal leaders.

The Houthis-affiliated Masirah television network confirmed in a statement that "13 of the army heroes were set free during a tribal mediation in al-Jawf."

Local tribal mediators have more than once succeeded in completing prisoner exchanges between government forces and the Houthis, who have been engaged in a military conflict since 2015.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition against the Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen for more than four years in support of the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.