SANAA

 Twenty Houthi militants and two armed tribesmen were killed in Wednesday clashes between the two camps in southern Yemen's Shabwah province, a tribal source has said.

The clashes, which remain ongoing, erupted early Wednesday in Shabwah's Markha district, the source, requesting anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency.

He went on to say that tribesmen had destroyed some of the Houthis' military equipment during the confrontations.

Also on Wednesday, armed tribesmen killed three Yemeni soldiers loyal to the Shiite Houthi militant group in Shabwah's Bayhan district, according to tribal sources.

The tribesmen attacked a pro-Houthi army patrol in Bayhan, killing three troops, the source told AA.

For over a week, Shabwah – and several other southern provinces – have been the site of deadly clashes between Houthi militants and allied forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on one hand and armed tribesmen loyal to embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi on the other.

Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when the Shiite Houthi group overran capital Sanaa, from which it has since sought to extend its influence to other parts of the country.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have been striking Houthi positions across Yemen by air since March 25.

Riyadh says its anti-Houthi campaign comes in response to Hadi's appeals for military intervention to "save the people [of Yemen] from the Houthi militias."

The Houthi group, for its part, has decried the Saudi-led campaign, describing it as "Saudi-American aggression against the Yemeni people."

Some Gulf States accuse Shiite Iran of supporting Yemen's Houthi insurgency.