Yemen said on Monday the Yemeni officers who were kidnapped by an armed group in Syria were sent there to study two years ago, the official agency Saba reported.

The agency quoted a source at the defense ministry as saying the claim of the armed group that the officers were sent to support the Assad regime was untrue.

"Yemeni army officers must not have links to the current events in Syria. The arrested were sent two years ago to study at the Aleppo Academy For Military Engineering," the source was quoted as saying.

The officers, including majors, captains and lieutenants as named by Saba, were on their way back to Yemen after they finished their study, the source said, pointing out they were kidnapped in early September in the Idlib town between Damascus and Aleppo.

"The Yemeni officers had already got their travel tickets and were well-prepared to come back home on a plane from Damascus. And when they could not travel on their plane due to the escalating fighting in Syria, they travelled via land and then arrested," the source continued.

The defense ministry sent an official letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene and help release the officers, he said, adding the Yemeni authorities are continuing their efforts to ensure the safety and release of the officers as soon as possible.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced members from the Shiite Houthi Group in Yemen were seen fighting in support of the Assad regime in Syria but the group dismissed the reports. An informed diplomat at Yemen's Washington embassy denied on Sunday the media reports including details about the talks between President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi and senior US officials in the US, the official agency Saba reported.