Northern Yemen clashes kill 34

At least 34 people were killed and dozens injured on Tuesday in clashes between army troops and Shia Houthi militants in Yemen's northern Al-Jawf province on the border with Saudi Arabia.

"Army forces and local tribesmen repelled an attack by Houthi militants in the province's Al-Safraa district," a security source said.

Violence erupted when Houthi militants tried to regain control of a military site captured by army forces a few days earlier, the source said.

According to the source, nine soldiers and tribesmen and 25 Houthi militants were killed in the ensuing clashes.

Yemeni authorities have yet to comment.

The Shia Houthi group first appeared in 1992, taking Yemen's northern Saada province as its main base of operations.

Yemen has been dogged by turmoil since the ouster of autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012 after 33 years in power.