Aden (Yemen), June 3 (IANS): Tribal militia loyal to Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi ambushed a military convoy of the Shia Houthi group in Yemen's southern province of Ibb, killing about 20 people and injuring 10 others, a security official told Xinhua news agency.

"The pro-Hadi tribal fighters set up a well-planned ambush on a convoy comprising armoured cars and tanks in the village of Kaida in Ibb province, leaving about 20 people dead and 10 others injured at the scene," the security source said on Tuesday.

"The Houthi fighters were heading to reinforce the battlefields in neighbouring Taiz province," the source said.

Fierce battles between Houthis and Hadi's supporters took place in Yemen's southern provinces on Tuesday.

The Houthi gunmen shelled Tuesday morning military sites manned by pro-Hadi militia in Khor Maksar district in the southern port city of Aden with Katyusha rocket launchers and tank shells.

Medical sources confirmed to Xinhua that more than eight civilians were seriously injured as a result of random shells that landed on residential buildings in Aden.

Fighter jets of the Saudi-led coalition forces continued to target weapons depots controlled by Houthis in a heavily populated district on the outskirts of Yemen's capital Sanaa.

The airstrikes also targeted Houthi-controlled positions and their armoured vehicles in Yemen's southern provinces on Tuesday morning, with no immediate reports of casualties.

Security in Yemen worsened after the Shia Houthi group took over control of Sanaa last September after deadly clashes with government forces.

The impoverished country has seen battles and airstrikes since March 26 when Saudi-led coalition forces started military operations in Yemen, aiming to reinstate the government of Hadi who is taking refuge in Riyadh.