Yemen's pro-government forces on Sunday announced their killing of five Houthi rebels in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

"Military units of the joint pro-government forces managed to strike a military vehicle used for transferring a crew of (five) rebels specialized in infiltration to our sites," said a brief statement released by the pro-government Giants Brigades.

Houthis increased their sporadic armed assaults against the government-controlled areas in Hodeidah during the past days, according to the statement.

Hodeidah has seen a shaky cease-fire between the government forces of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels since both sides reached a UN-sponsored truce in Stockholm in December 2018.

Part of the Yemeni port city is under the control of the Houthi rebels, while the government forces have advanced to the southern and eastern outskirts.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi group seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.