ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's government and the Houthi rebel group swapped 16 prisoners in the country's turbulent northeastern province of al-Jawf on Tuesday, a military official told Xinhua.
After a local tribal mediation, eight government soldiers were set free in exchange for the release of eight Houthi rebels, the local military source said on condition of anonymity.
Yemen's local tribal mediators have more than once succeeded in brokering prisoner exchanges between government forces and the Houthis in different areas of the war-torn country.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government. Enditem
