Yemeni forces have fired a Zelzal 2 (Earthquake-2) ballistic missile at a position of Saudi-backed mercenaries in the Nihm district of the country's western Sana'a province, inflicting heavy casualties on them.

According to early reports, scores of Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, were killed and injured after Yemeni army forces backed by allied fighters from the Popular Committees launched the domestically-produced missile at their position.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni forces had fired the Zelzal-2 missile at the Saudi mercenaries as they were trying to make territorial advances in the Nihm district of the province on Monday afternoon.

Separately, scores of Saudi-sponsored Hadi loyalists lost their lives and sustained injuries when Yemeni forces carried out two separate attacks against their outposts in the southwestern province of Ta'izz.

An unnamed military official said the first assault struck south of Khalid military base, while the second targeted an area west of Mawza city.

Furthermore, Yemeni forces and allied fighters mounted an offensive against a position of Saudi mercenaries in the al-Maslub district of Yemen's northern province of al-Jawf, leaving dozens of them dead and injured.

Yemeni forces also thwarted an infiltration attempt by Hadi loyalists in the Sadah area of Maslub district, killing and injuring many Saudi mercenaries.