By Afra Aksoy

MARIB, Yemen

(AA) - Twenty Houthi rebels were killed in clashes with Yemen’s military in central Marib province, military officials said Thursday.

Officials from the Yemen Armed Forces’ Information Center said clashes erupted when Houthi rebels attempted to infiltrate a military-held area in the southern part of Sirvah district.

Yemeni military artillery units hit Houthi targets in Sirvah, killing 20 Houthi rebels.

Sirvah, captured by Houthis in April 2015, has faced fierce clashes between the Yemeni army and Houthi group in recent months.

Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab its allies -- who accuse the Houthis of serving as Iranian proxies -- launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The following year, UN-sponsored peace talks held in Kuwait failed to produce any tangible breakthroughs.

The violence has devastated the country’s basic infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.