One prisoner was killed and nine other prisoners and seven soldiers were killed after gunmen raided a court in Yemen's capital city of Sanaa on Sunday, a security official said.
The gunmen threw grenades, clashed with the guards of the southeastern Sanaa court and released one of the prisoners, the official said.
"The gunmen's raid occurred while the prisoners were leaving the courtroom in order to come back to the jail after they had appeared for a hearing," the official said.
"The prisoner, who was freed by the gunmen, had been accused of murders," he elaborated.
The gunmen are still at large, he said.
The incident was rare though most of Yemeni cities including the capital have been experiencing security deterioration for around a year.
The security deterioration started after the Houthi militants seized power sparking a civil war and a Saudi-led Arab military intervention.
In this context, the battles between the pro-government forces and the militants continued Sunday in the provinces of Dhali, Taiz and others.
Local sources in Dhali said the forces with support from the coalition and the popular residence made progress forcing the militants to withdraw from positions in the districts of Damt and Morais.
In Taiz, the pro-government forces regained momentum after the militants advanced on them at key warfronts taking over some areas in the past few days, sources within the popular resistance said.
News reports said the coalition has sent more reinforcements, troops and equipment including tanks and munitions, to back the Yemeni forces to drive the militants out of Taiz.