Top Houthi field leader killed with his fighters during fierce clashes in southern Yemen

Six Houthis were killed, including a high-ranking field leader, when Southern Forces repelled a large-scale attack by the Iran-backed rebels in southern Yemen on Sunday, a military spokesman said.

The attack happened in eastern Al Hasha district, in Al Dhalea province.

Capt Fuad Jubari, spokesman for the Dhalea military axis, said the Houthis attacked two sites, controlled by the Southern Forces, with heavy artillery shelling.

The forces launched a counter-attack and repelled the Houthis, chasing them on the plains of Habeel Yahya and besieging others in Al Hasha's mountains, Capt Jubari said.

“Six members of the besieged group were killed,” he said.

The Houthis recently increased their military operations in northern Al Dhalea and the province of Al Bayda.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni government and Southern Transitional Council have agreed to a ceasefire to end a months-long standoff in the southern provinces of Aden, Abyan and Shabwa.

They agreed to a truce in Abyan province, easing tension in other regions and to start talks on putting the Riyadh Agreement into effect, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al Jaber, wrote on Twitter last week.

The agreement was followed by the arrival of observers to oversee the ceasefire.