As many as 17 Yemeni civilians were killed in clashes between the security forces and Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen's northern province of Amran in the past 24 hours, medics and police officers said on Wednesday.
The medics told Xinhua over phone that a total of 13 bodies of one family, including five children and two women, were brought to a public hospital in Amran province after their house was hit by heavy shelling in overnight clashes.
Dozens of civilians were also wounded during the clashes, they added.
The latest clashes erupted after Shiite Houthi rebels launched attacks on Tuesday night against police forces in Amran city, provincial capital of the province, in attempt to seize Amran University and a police station, a police officer said.
On Tuesday evening, the Shiite rebels also attacked a nearby military post in northwestern Amran city. Four children of one family were killed by the shelling, medics and residents confirmed.
According to the UN agencies in Yemen, up to 40,000 people have been displaced by the conflicts in Amran province since October 2013, about half of whom fled their homes in May. Some of them were hiding in caves in nearby mountains without enough food and clean water, humanitarian organizations said.
The Yemeni government signed two cease-fire deals earlier this month, however, the two sides did not abide by the deals.
During the clashes that broke out since October 2013, dozens of soldiers and Houthi fighters were killed in sporadic battles in northern provinces of al-Jouf, Hajja and Amran, as well as northern suburbs of Sanaa.