Three members of the popular resistance were also injured in the clashes, Al Arabiya’s Yemen-based correspondent reported.

Meanwhile, Saudi-led airstrikes on Houthi fighters in the oil-producing Marib province also killed 10 Houthis, tribal sources told Reuters.

The clashes erupted ahead of U.N.-sponsored talks in Geneva next week aimed at ending a conflict that has drawn in Saudi Arabia and some of its allies on one side and the Iranian-backed Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh on the other.

Representatives of Hadi’s government are scheduled to begin talks in Geneva with representatives of the Houthi group and Saleh’s General People’s Congress party on Sunday, amid reports of disagreements about the agenda.

Also on Wednesday, Al Arabiya News Channel reported that the Yemeni navy seized four Iranian ships on the remote island of Socotra, around 380km south of the mainland.

Clashes between Houthi militias and Saudi forces near the border city of Jizan were also reported.

Meanwhile, a reporter from Al Arabiya’s sister channel Al Hadath said that Saudi Apache helicopters targeted Houthi militia movements near Jizan.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting in Yemen, which escalated sharply after Saudi-led Arab forces waded into the conflict in March to try to shore up Hadi and stop the Houthis advancing on areas held by his supporters.