Senior Houthi officer killed in clashes with Yemeni government forces

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Wednesday announced the death of a senior intelligence officer during clashes with forces loyal to the internationally-recognised Yemeni government.

The Houthi-controlled branch of Yemen's Saba News Agency said that General Yahya Abdel Rahman, the group's head of preventive security in the northern province of Al-Jawf, was buried in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Saba said that four other Houthi military officers were also buried in Sanaa. It named them as Colonel Fahd Mohammed Jahwan, Captain Hassan Mohammed Jahwan, Captain Ali Khaled Shammam. and Lieutenant Wael Abdu Al-Qadami.

It said that they had "died while doing their duty to defend the nation", in a reference to fighting with government forces.

The clashes appear to have taken place despite the renewal of a truce between the two sides last week.

The Houthi rebels have controlled Sanaa and most of northern Yemen since 2014, when they forced the internationally-recognised Yemeni government, led by former President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to flee the capital.

The following year, a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia intervened to fight the Iran-backed Houthis.

The conflict has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 377,000 people killed, according to UN estimates, and millions more on the verge of famine.

A two-month ceasefire negotiated by the UN in April was extended for another two months on 2 June.