As many as 23 Al Houthi militants and four pro-government tribesmen have been killed in fierce clashes in the central province of Baydha when the Iran-backed rebels launched an attack to expand their territories, state-run media and activists said on Sunday.

A large number of heavily-armed fighters mounted an offensive on Al Humygani tribesmen in Al Zaher district, setting off bloody clashes that continued Saturday afternoon, Abdul Rab Al Humygani, a local activist close to government fighters, told Gulf News.

 “The Al Houthi militia was drawn deep into the valley. Resistance fighters attacked trapped fighters including some soldiers from the elite Republican Guards,” he said. The Republic Guards are loyal to ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh who forged an awkward alliance with Al Houthi rebels against the internationally-recognised government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Resistance fighters seized Al Houthi’s arsenal that they left behind. Media loyal to Al Houthis and Saleh mourned the death of Colonel Jaber Ali Abdullah Al Sayedi, the head of operation at the 3rd Mountain Infantry Brigade of the Republican Guard who was killed in Al Zaher district.

Al Houthis have been unable to take full control of Baydha province despite launching many aggressive attacks on loyalists’ locations. Also in Baydha, residents said that a civilian was killed and another injured when a US drone hit their car in Al Quraishyah district on Saturday.

The two men, Idris Ahmad Jarown, 22, and his brother Saeed, 20, were on motorbike near their farm in Khabran region when a US drone fired a missile at them on Saturday morning. “The elder brother was killed on impact while the other man lost his legs,” a resident, who requested anonymity because of security concerns, told Gulf News.

For years, US drones have carried air strikes in the province targeting Al Qaida and Daesh operatives. After losing their urban areas in Abyan, Shabwa, Lahj and Hadramout provinces, Al Qaida and Deash have taken shelter inside a chain of rugged mountains that links Baydha with Shabwa and Abyan.

On the other hand, Yemen’s foreign ministry has said that Iran’s violations and its meddling in Yemeni internal affairs - through providing funding and arms to Houthi militias - will be discussed by Arab foreign ministers during a meeting on Sunday.

Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Mansour Bijash told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Foreign Minister Abdulmalik Al-Mikhlafi’s speech at the meeting will tackle the Iranian meddling, missile attacks on Arab capitals, and Tehran’s role in southern Lebanon.

The Yemeni file will be thoroughly discussed during the Arab foreign ministers meeting as a result of the huge damage done to the country following Iran’s intervention that has led to war and the loss of the state and the nation.

According to Bijash, Arab countries should stand against Tehran’s meddling, which has targeted the region’s security and stability through its proxies in several countries, mainly Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen, in addition to subversive groups in Bahrain.

The Arab foreign ministers should “make a real stand against Iranian intervention, stop the role of the Revolutionary Guards and remove its proxies from the Arab region,” the Yemeni official said. Bijash told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Yemeni foreign minister and ministry of human rights have been documenting Iran’s support for Houthi militias, which are “beyond imagination.”

The two ministries are also monitoring all activities carried out by the insurgents under direct orders from Iran, he said. Several Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, “are backing the Yemeni government’s international moves to clarify all the violations committed in Yemen in contravention of all international rules, mainly the killing of civilians and carrying out missile strikes,” Bijash added.