Govt-Houthi battles in Yemen's Marib kill 44

The "bloody" battles between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels in the northeastern oil-rich province of Marib on Saturday left 44 people killed, a government official told Xinhua.

"The Houthi rebel fighters carried out large-scale military operations from different directions against several sites of pro-government forces in western Marib," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Pro-government local tribesmen also engaged in the armed confrontations with the Houthi attackers who used heavy weapons including artillery shelling, he added.

The battles resulted in the killing of 27 Houthi fighters and 17 pro-government soldiers, while dozens were injured, according to the Yemeni official.

Warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition carried out a series of airstrikes and targeted military reinforcements of the Houthi group near Marib, the official noted.

Fighting continues heating up in various Yemeni provinces as regional and international powers are still making efforts to end the long-lasting conflict and achieve permanent peace in the impoverished Arab country.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni military conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government.