SANAA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A Yemeni military deputy commander and two soldiers were killed by a roadside bombing in the south of the flashpoint Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Thursday, a local official said.

Talal Kafsh, deputy commander of the first division, and two of his escorts were killed by the roadside bombing as their military vehicle drove past a routine patrol on the road linking Khokha town and Hais district, about 60 km south of Hodeidah city, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The bomb was triggered remotely, the official said, blaming the Houthi rebels.

The western coast from the southern city of Aden to Durayhemi district, including Khokha and Hais, is under government control backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

However, these coastal areas, also known as Tihama region along the Red Sea coast, expose the government troops to Houthi counter-attacks.

Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including the capital Sanaa and Hodeidah.