Houthi rebels kill 8 Yemen soldiers

At least eight soldiers of Yemen's government forces were killed in an attack carried out by Houthi rebels in the country's southern province of Lahj on Sunday, a government military official said.

"Scores of Houthi fighters carried out a large-scale attack and caught pro-government troops off-guard near the border between Lahj and Bayda provinces," the official said on condition of anonymity.

He said that the Houthi attackers managed to overpower the military sites, killing at least eight pro-government soldiers and wounding 15 others in the area.

Army officers with the pro-government forces in Lahj confirmed the death toll and said that pro-government forces responded by killing 10 Houthi rebels and injuring several others.

The latest attack has tested the recent U.N.-backed efforts to defuse tensions between the Houthi militants and Yemen's internationally recognized government.

The Yemeni government and Houthi rebels have engaged in several rounds of negotiations facilitated by the United Nations, but a comprehensive resolution to the conflict remains elusive.

Sporadic fighting between the Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels continues in various regions of the war-torn Arab country.

Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014, with the Houthis fighting against the Yemeni government. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in the conflict in support of the Yemeni government in 2015.