ADEN, Yemen, July 13 (Xinhua) -- At least eight members of the Houthi rebel group were killed Saturday in clashes with the pro-government Yemeni forces in the country's southwestern province of Taiz, a military official told Xinhua.

According to the local military official who preferred to be unnamed, the Houthis launched an attack on the joint pro-government forces stationed in Barah area, west of Taiz, sparking intense clashes that left 8 rebels killed.

The Houthis launched the attack in an attempt to seize a strategic road linking Taiz with Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, but failed due to the pro-government forces vigilance, said the source.

Around six soldiers were left injured as a result of the bloody clashes with the Houthis attackers in the same area, he added.

On the other side, the Houthi-affiliated Masirah television network blamed the pro-government forces of firing more than 100 artillery shells on areas controlled by the rebels south of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

It said that more than 58 artillery shells fired by the pro-government forces target farms and public properties in Hays district located to the southeast part of Hodeidah.

The Yemeni government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have been locked in clashes with the Iran-allied Houthi rebels in various areas in the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and Taiz since April 2015.

Yemen has been mired into a civil war since late 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.

The civil war has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. Enditem

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