The Yemeni army on Sunday announced the capture of several military positions from Houthi rebels in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province.

“The army’s 17th Infantry Brigade was able to liberate the Dar Qasim, Esilah and Nuba areas, along with large parts of Al-Hajar village on the Al-Abadala front in Taiz’s western Maqbanah district,” the army-affiliated SeptemberNet website quoted an unnamed military source as saying.

According to the source, Houthi rebels suffered “heavy” human and material losses in fierce fighting that occurred on Saturday.

“Army engineering units have defused more than 15 landmines planted by the Houthis in liberated areas,” the source was quoted as saying.

Middle East Monitor was unable to independently verify the source’s assertions.

Read: Yemen army retakes Hudaydah airport

Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies, who accuse the Houthis of serving as proxies for Shia Iran, launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The following year, UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait failed to end the destructive conflict.

The ongoing violence has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.