Battles intensified Saturday between Yemeni Houthi rebels and Saudi troops in the southern Saudi border province of Jizan, the rebel-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The fighting took place in the Saudi border sites of Shurfa and Jahfan in the southern edge of Jizan.

The rebels claimed that their fighters have killed dozens of Saudi troops and seized control over several posts in Shurfa and Jahfan. However, there was no comment yet from the Saudi side.

Fighting has been raging on and off in the southern Saudi border provinces of Jizan, Asir and Najran since 2015.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Iranian-allied Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including the capital Sanaa.

The four-year-long civil war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

AFP.