"Dozens of Houthis and allied forces of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh were killed in the confrontations," Abdullah al-Ashraf, a spokesman for government forces said. 

He, however, did not give an exact number of fatalities. 

The spokesman said nine government troops were also killed in the violence in the province, which is close to Saudi border. 

There was no comment from the Houthi group on the claim. 

Yemen has remained wracked by conflict since 2014, when the Houthis and pro-Saleh forces overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country. 

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched an extensive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled Saudi-backed government.