A Yemeni malnourished girl lies on a bed receives medical treatment at a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, on May 05, 2018. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)

ADEN, Yemen, May 5 (Xinhua) -- About 16 fighters of the Shiite Houthi group were killed in airstrikes and ongoing armed confrontations with pro-government forces in Yemen's southwestern province of Taiz on Saturday, a military official told Xinhua.

The local military source, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the government forces air-covered by warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition heavily attacked the Houthi-controlled area of AlBarh in the western part of Taiz.

"The Houthi group lost 16 fighters either in the air bombing or by the ground battles with the national forces in AlBarh area," the source said.

He added that "the pressure against the Houthis in the Taiz and the western coast areas rapidly increased and several areas were liberated in the past days."

Local military analysts said that the Houthis are facing a real difficulty in recruiting new fighters particularly in the port city Hodeidah, as most of the young fighters preferred to join with the forces loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

In recent weeks, elite forces from the Republican Guard started to establish new brigades with the support of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), vowing to seize control over Hodeidah province.

Saudi Arabia is leading a mostly Arab military coalition to fight Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015.

Houthis have been controlling much of Yemen's north by force, including the capital Sanaa since 2014.

The war has killed more than 10,000 Yemenis, mostly civilians, and displaced over 3 million, according to humanitarian agencies.