SANAA

At least 27 Houthi militants were reportedly killed in an ambush in Yemen's southern Ad Dali city on Monday.

"About 27 Houthis were killed and more than 20 others injured when a Houthi military convoy was ambushed in central Ad Dali city," a member of a local vigilante group loyal to embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi told The Anadolu Agency.

He said the Houthi convoy had been en route to Aden to provide support to pro-Houthi forces who are currently shelling parts of the southern city.

The pro-Hadi vigilante, for his part, said that 24 Houthi militants had been captured by vigilante groups in the southern Lahj province.

There has been no comment from the Shiite Houthi group regarding the reports.

Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country.

Since March 25, Houthi positions have been subject to frequent attack by warplanes from countries participating in a Saudi-led air campaign against the Shiite militant group.

Riyadh says the campaign is in response to earlier appeals by Hadi – who is currently in Saudi Arabia – to "save the [Yemeni] people from the Houthi militias."

The Houthis, for their part, have decried the Saudi-led offensive, describing it as unwarranted "Saudi-American aggression."

Some Gulf States accuse Shiite Iran of supporting Yemen's Houthi insurgency.