The Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces launched an attack on Saturday against positions of the Shiite Houthi group on the Red Sea, leaving 20 killed from both sides, a military official told Xinhua.

The armed forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized government retook several strategic positions held by Houthis in the coastal city of Dhubab in Taiz province, following fierce battles, the military official said on condition of anonymity.

Backed by Saudi-led warplanes, the fighting in Dhubab district that overlooks the Bab al-Madab strait lasted several hours, the source said.

According to medical sources, about 16 Houthi gunmen and four pro-government soldiers were killed during the fighting near the Red Sea Coast.

Heavy army reinforcements with armored vehicles and tanks arrived in Dhubab to prepare for an all-out offensive against Houthi fighters in the district, according to Yemeni officials.

An army commander said the military offensive aimed at liberating the western areas, especially the western coast, from Houthi's control in the next upcoming hours.

The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when a war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Houthis and Saleh's forces hold most of Yemen's northern regions while the government forces and the Saudi-led coalition share control of the rest of the country including seven southern provinces.

The civil war has so far killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured over 35,000 others and displaced about two million, according to humanitarian agencies.

source: Xinhua