SANAA: Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition overnight destroyed at least five pick-up vehicles carrying combatants of the Houthi militia in Yemen’s central province of Marib, a military source told Xinhua on Monday.

“The vehicles were destroyed in and around the frontline of the southwestern district of Rahabah, killing all aboard,” the source in Marib said on condition of anonymity.

“Despite the airstrikes, the Houthis continue their attempts to retake strategic mountains in the district,” said the source without elaborating further.

Meanwhile, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported six Saudi-led airstrikes on Rahabah and the western district of Sirwah without providing more details.

Early on Monday, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed two bomb-laden drones launched by the Houthis from Yemen towards the Saudi southern city of Khamis Mushait. There was no comment yet from the Houthi group.

The Houthis began in February a major offensive on Marib in an attempt to seize control of the oil-rich province, the government’s last northern stronghold.

Yemen’s civil war flared up in late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi group seized control of much of the country’s north and forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi’s government.–Xinhua