ADEN, Yemen, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a series of airstrikes on several areas controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen on Tuesday, a government official told Xinhua.
The airstrikes were launched in support of the pro-government Yemeni forces who are battling the Houthi rebels on the ground, according to the official who preferred to remain anonymous.
"More than 15 air raids were carried out against the Houthi-controlled sites in several villages of the central province of al-Bayda," he said.
The pro-government Yemeni forces unleashed a large-scale operation against the Houthis in al-Bayda following the airstrikes, the official added.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition also launched a number of airstrikes on the Houthi fighters positioned on the western outskirts of the northeastern province of Marib.
The airstrikes aimed at impeding the Iran-backed Houthis from making military progress toward the government-controlled Marib, according to the local source.
In addition, the main bastion of the Houthi rebel group in the northern province of Saada also came under the Saudi-led airstrikes.
No information, however, was given about casualties among the Iran-backed Houthi fighters as a result of the Saudi-led airstrikes.
Yemen has been locked in a civil war since the Houthis seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.
Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen's conflict in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.
The prolonged military conflict has aggravated the suffering of Yemenis and caused the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
