A senior commander of Yemen's pro-government forces was killed in a roadside bomb attack targeting his convoy in the Red Sea province of Hodeidah on Saturday.

The force said the victim was Yahya Wahish, commander of its First Division. He was killed when an explosive device detonated as his convoy was traveling through the Al Khawkhah district in southern Hodeidah.

The statement said one of Wahish's escorts was also killed in the explosion, while two other escorts sustained injuries.

The National Resistance Forces blamed the Houthi group for planting the bomb. However, there was no immediate response from the Houthis, and no group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

The National Resistance Forces are led by Tariq Saleh, a member of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) and nephew of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The force was established with backing from the Saudi-led coalition and is based in the strategic coastal city of Mocha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Yemen has remained embroiled in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in support of the internationally recognized government in 2015.

Although a UN-brokered truce between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, reached in April 2022, expired after six months, both sides have largely observed a de facto ceasefire since then.

The prolonged conflict has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with millions of people facing food insecurity and limited access to essential services.