According to a military source, at least 43 Houthi fighters were killed in Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen's Marib region in the last 24 hours. “The airstrikes in Sirwah area targeted rebel positions, meetings, and reinforcements on the frontlines, killing 43 people and destroyed nine weapons-mounted vehicles,” the statement said. "Xinhua news agency quoted a source at the Armed Forces Media Center in Marib.

“The bombings were in retaliation to rebel ground attacks on frontline (Yemeni) army positions,” the statement read. "He claimed that the pro-government military forces had suffered no losses.

Al-Masirah TV, which the Houthis control, reported 19 Saudi-led airstrikes on the Sirwah district without offering any other information.

The Houthis took control of the Rahabah region in southeastern Marib last week.

In February, the Houthi militia launched a military onslaught on Marib, attempting to capture control of the oil-rich province and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government's final northern stronghold.

Yemen's civil conflict erupted in late 2014, when the Houthi movement seized control of much of the country's north and drove President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's internationally recognized government out of the capital, Sanaa.

In March 2015, a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict to support Hadi's government.