ADEN — The chief of staff of the Yemeni army has been injured by a land mine that went off while he was visiting the northern Al-Jouf province, where heavy fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters is underway, a senior government official said.

The official said Brig. Gen. Taher Al-Aqeeli suffered minor injuries in the explosion, which happened on Friday while he was inspecting government positions in Khub wa Al-Sha'af, the largest district in Al-Jouf province.

Forces loyal to President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi's government captured most of the district in heavy fighting with the Houthis last month.

Anti-Houthi forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have intensified an offensive against the Iran-aligned group that controls most of northern Yemen since former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed after he switched sides in Yemen's nearly three-year-old civil war.

Saleh's General People's Congress party accused the Houthis of trying to monopolize running the country.

The Houthis said Aqeeli and several of his aides were injured in the blast.

Hadi appointed Aqeeli last September, replacing Maj. Gen. Mohammed Al-Maqdeshi, who was appointed as a presidential adviser.

The United Arab Emirates news agency WAM reported earlier this week that local Yemeni fighters in the southwest, backed by Emirati forces, killed dozens of armed Houthi group members and cut one of their main supply routes to the country's third largest city of Taiz. — Reuters