Sanaa, Oct 19 (IANS): The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has intensified the airstrikes against positions of the Houthi militia in the country's oil-rich province of Marib, a military official said.

"Scores of air strikes precisely destroyed several military vehicles of the Houthi militia near the Abdiya district in Marib and other surrounding areas," the official told Xinhua news agency on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the Saudi military coalition announced that its air operations killed 150 Houthis in Marib, particularly near the turbulent district of Abdiya.

During the past few days, hundreds of Houthi fighters were killed or injured as a result of the Saudi aerial shelling, said the source.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched in February a major offensive toward Marib in an attempt to seize control of the province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since September 2014 when the Houthi militia forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.