Aden (Yemen), Sep 5 : Yemeni government warplanes struck Houthi-held areas in the western provinces of Hodeidah and Taiz, backing ground troops battling a major Houthi offensive near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a military official told Xinhua.

The airstrikes, on Friday (local time), came as fierce fighting raged across multiple fronts in the two provinces, where Houthi fighters had made rapid advances over the past 24 hours, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the warplanes targeted Houthi positions and movements in areas of active ground combat. Further details on the strikes or casualties were not immediately available.

A Houthi military source confirmed the strikes but attributed them to "Saudi aggression warplanes." Saudi Arabia has yet to comment.

As fighting intensified, Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), vowed on Friday that government forces would block the Houthis from advancing toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital waterway linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The latest escalation, which erupted at dawn Thursday, has since claimed at least 90 lives, including 40 government soldiers and at least 50 Houthi fighters, across the two provinces, according to medical officials.

The escalation intensified on Friday as both sides sent more troops, armoured vehicles and equipment to the two fronts, according to military sources.

The latest escalation marks some of the heaviest ground fighting in western Yemen in recent years, raising concerns of a broader return to large-scale hostilities after years of relative calm across many of the country's frontlines.

Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year in support of the internationally recognised Yemeni government.

/IANS