ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Mortar shells fired by the Shiite Houthi rebels killed nine fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed government and injured several others in Taiz province on Wednesday, a military official told Xinhua.
According to the Yemeni military source a gathering of fighters allied with the legitimate government was struck by a barrage of mortar shells fired by Houthis on the Hamily area of southwestern province of Taiz.
The official who refused to be identified told Xinhua by phone that more than nine fighters died and several others injured in the mortar round attack carried out by Houthis.
He added that the attack occurred while the soldiers were preparing to launch a fresh offensive against Houthis and retake control over other areas in the country's western part.
The pro-Houthi forces usually target the Saudi-backed government forces positioned in the Red Sea coast city of Mocha and other areas with heat-seeking missiles and rockets, according to local sources.
Yemen's internationally-backed government, allied with the Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has for more than two years been battling Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels over control of the country.
The coalition began a military air campaign in March 2015 to roll back Houthi gains and reinstate exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to the power.
The coalition also imposed air and sea blockade to prevent weapons from reaching Houthis, who had invaded the capital Sanaa militarily and seized most of the northern Yemeni provinces.
UN statistics show more than 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni civil war that also displaced around three million.
The impoverished Arab country is also suffering the world's largest cholera epidemic since April, with about 5,000 cases reported every day.
