At least 50 rebels and pro-government troops, including a high-ranking officer, have been killed in clashes in Yemen's central province of Al-Bayda, AFP reported on Thursday, citing military sources.

"A colonel and 19 other loyalists were killed in the past 24 hours in fighting with the Houthi insurgents in Al-Bayda district," a government military official told AFP. "Thirty rebels also met their fate in battlefield clashes and air strikes."

The Iran-allied Houthi militia recently intensified their military operations against the government-controlled areas in different parts of the country and have made advances in Al-Bayda province in recent weeks as they also fight for control of the strategic city of Marib in the north.

Yemen has been locked into a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi militia overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthis forced him into exile.

(With input from AFP and Xinhua)