Sanaa, Dec 12 (IANS): Three Yemeni civilians were killed in a blast caused by a landmine in the country's northeastern province of al-Jawf, a government official said.

"A large landmine explosion struck a civilian vehicle carrying local citizens in the turbulent province of al-Jawf, killing three people at the scene," the official told Xinhua news agency.

He confirmed that the explosion destroyed the vehicle and critically injured five people who had been transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The explosion was caused by a mine laid by the Houthi rebels engaging in sporadic fighting with the Yemeni government forces in the province, according to the official.

A total of 44 Yemeni people were killed by explosions caused by landmines and explosive devices in the first half of 2021

During the January-June period this year, 44 people were killed, including 11 children, and 57 others were injured, according to official data.

Majority of the casualties and losses were recorded in the coastal areas located in the southern parts of the country's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

Previous reports of humanitarian organisations suggested that Yemen has become one of the largest landmine battlefields in the world since the World War II.

The Houthi militias have placed many of these landmines, often in busy areas containing hospitals and schools.

The Yemeni government believes that landmines are so widespread that it could take multiple decades to remove all of them.

The Iran-allied Houthi rebels seized the northern Yemeni provinces including the capital Sanaa in late 2014, forcing President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile.

A coalition formed by Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries intervened militarily in the conflict to fight against the Houthis in March 2015, in response to an official request from Hadi to protect Yemen.