SANAA, Yemen

At least 28 Houthi fighters were killed on Monday in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes and artillery barrages by the Yemeni army in the northwestern Hajjah province near the Saudi border, according to the Yemeni army.

"Our military forces today shelled Houthi positions in the Midi district of Hajjah province, killing eight Houthi militants," the army’s information center said in a statement published on its official Facebook page.

"Meanwhile, the [Saudi-led] Arab air coalition at noon the same day targeted a number of Houthi concentrations in the Hiran directorate of Hajjah province, killing at least 20," the statement added without elaborating.

Houthi spokesmen, for their part, have yet to comment on the army’s assertions.

Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a wide-ranging air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.

Reporting by Mohamed al-Samei; Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg