2 Yemeni army officers killed in clashes with Houthis in southwestern Yemen

Two Yemeni army officers were killed in clashes with Houthi forces south of the southwestern Taiz province, the military said on Saturday.

The army-affiliated Tur al-Bahah Military Command confirmed the deaths in two statements published on US social media platform Facebook.

Capt. Fawaz Thabet Ismail al-Athouri, a member of the Fourth Mountain Infantry Brigade, died of injuries sustained when the Houthis targeted a military position south of Taiz, the command said. It provided no further information about the timing or circumstances of the attack.

The command also said that a funeral was held Saturday for First Lieutenant Farid Yassin Hamid al-Marbadi.

Al-Marbadi, a graduate of the Aviation and Air Defense College, was killed "while performing his duties" on the Al-Ahkoum front south of Taiz during confrontations with the Houthis, it added.

The Houthi group issued no immediate comment on the Yemeni army's account as of 1015GMT.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014.

A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.