ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's government army announced Thursday thwarting an attack by the Houthi militia against the country's southwestern province of Taiz.

"The national army units inflicted heavy losses on the Houthi rebels who tried to advance militarily toward the government-controlled sites in the western part of Taiz," the state-run Saba news agency reported.

It said that the Houthi attack was totally thwarted by the government's soldiers following hours of intense armed confrontations.

An officer of government forces confirmed to Xinhua by phone, saying that "the Houthi group is currently pushing for military escalation on-ground and scores of its fighters participated in the recent attack."

The fresh military escalation in the strategic Yemeni province of Taiz comes as regional and global powers are attempting to make fitful progress in undeclared negotiations between Yemen's factions to renew a previous humanitarian truce brokered by the United Nations.

Various regions in Yemen have witnessed sporadic armed confrontations between the local warring factions, after a cease-fire brokered by the United Nations expired in October last year.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia stormed several northern cities and forced the Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa. Enditem

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