ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels intensified their armed attacks against the areas controlled by the government forces in the country's southern province of Dhalea on Saturday, a military official told Xinhua.
Scores of the Houthi rebel group fighters launched intense armed attacks against the government forces sites in the northeastern parts of Dhalea province, following weeks of de-escalation, the local military source said on condition of anonymity.
He said that the areas located in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the government-controlled Dhalea province witnessed a lull in the fighting during the past period but the Houthi attacks sparked it again recently.
The government forces engaged in intense armed confrontations with the Houthi attackers near the district of Al Husha in Dhalea, the source said.
Both sides are still exchanging heavy weapons shelling, forcing many families to flee their houses into other safer places, he added.
Fuad Jubary, the official spokesman of the pro-government forces in Dhalea, confirmed to Xinhua that "our troops are now participating in the most intense battles against the Houthis the outskirts of Dhalea."
No information, however, was given about casualties among both of the warring factions in Dhalea as fighting is still raging.
In April, the Iranian-allied Houthi fighters launched a series of intense armed attacks on the positions of Yemeni government forces and succeeded in seizing the district of Al Husha in the west of Dhalea.
The areas in the north and west of Dhalea, 138 km north of Aden, have been witnessing non-stop fightings between government forces and Houthi fighters for about four years.
Yemen has been plagued by a civil war since late 2014 after Houthi rebels forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.
