ADEN, Yemen, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Saudi-backed Yemeni troops repulsed an attack by the Shiite Houthi group in the Lahj province on Tuesday, leaving five killed from two sides, a military official told Xinhua.
Three Houthi gunmen and two pro-government soldiers were killed and several others injured in the two-hour fighting that occurred in Lahj's suburb area, the official based in Anad military base said.
He added that the Saudi-backed forces captured a number of Houthi gunmen who were trying to sneak into the government-controlled Lahj province.
Witnesses told Xinhua that Houthi fighters randomly bombed residential buildings in the neighboring southern province of al-Dhalea on Tuesday, with no immediate reports of casualties.
Media outlets close to the Saudi-backed government reported that the Yemeni troops made progress against the Shiite Houthi fighters in the northern province of Al-Jawf and took control over key sites earlier in the day.
Yemen has been suffering from a civil war, and a Saudi-led military intervention, for around two years. The civil war began after the Houthi militants with support from forces loyal to the former president ousted the UN-backed transitional government and occupied capital Sanaa in September 2014.
The legitimate government controls the south and some eastern parts, while the Houthi/Saleh alliance controls other parts including the capital city of Sanaa.
The UN has sponsored peace talks between the warring factions for several times, without achieving a peace agreement.
The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others, and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian agencies.
