Yemeni journalist Ahmed Saleh al Hamzi, head of the state news agency's Al Bayda bureau, was killed in shelling on Thursday, local media announced.

Saleh, who headed the state-run Saba news agency's office in the embattled Al Bayda province, was killed covering the fight between pro-government forces and Yemen's Houthi rebels, Saba said.

Aref al Amri, head of the Al Bayda media office, said Saleh had been killed by shelling early Thursday morning.

Abdullah al Qadry, a Yemeni photographer and videographer who contributed to AFP, was killed in shelling on the border of Al Bayda province, in central Yemen, in April.

Qadry died while on assignment for Yemen's Belqees television. A local security source said Houthi rebels were behind the shelling.

Since March 2015, at least 15 journalists have been killed in Yemen, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The conflict in Yemen has raged for three years, pitting pro-government forces backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia and its allies against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

More than 10,000 people have been killed and more than 54,000 injured in what the United Nations has called "the world's worst humanitarian crisis".