Sanaa, Oct 12 (IANS): Scores of the Houthi rebels were killed during their military attacks to seize key areas in the country's northern oil-rich province of Marib, a government official said.

"Several simultaneous Houthi attacks targeted Marib's key district of Abdiya that's besieged for nearly three weeks, sparking non-stop armed confrontations," the official told Xinhua news agency.

Ferocious armed confrontations are still taking place between the Houthis and the government forces backed by local tribal fighters in the district, and the casualties included mid-level commanders of the rebel group, he added.

Official government estimates the population of the Abdiya is about 35,000, with thousands of children and women facing catastrophic consequences as a result of the district's lack of food and medical supplies.

Earlier on Monday, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting against the Houthis in Yemen declared that more than 156 rebels were killed and eight military vehicles were destroyed in an operation near Abdiya.

According to the coalition, 33 airstrikes were carried out against the Houthi-held positions near Abdiya during the past 24 hours.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched in February a major offensive on Marib in an attempt to seize control of the oil-rich province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since September 2014 when the Houthi militia forced the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.