ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The shelling by Houthi rebels hit a camp of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Yemen's Red Sea coastal city of Hodeidah on Friday, a military official told Xinhua.

"The IDPs camp in Hodeidah's district of Khokha, which has been inhabited for several months by hundreds of families, was hit by a mortar shell, killing at least three women and injuring four others," the military official said on condition of anonymity.

The wounded were transferred to receive treatment in a medical center controlled by the internationally-backed government in Hodeidah, the source said.

Earlier in the day, warplanes of the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched an airstrike on a residential building belonging to a prominent tribal chief loyal to the Houthi group in Hodeidah.

"Sheikh Ibrahim Shyrai was injured along with a number of his bodyguards during the aerial bombardment by Saudi warplanes," a local tribal source said.

Pro-Houthi media outlets confirmed the airstrike, saying two people were killed.

In recent days, the Yemeni government seeks to expel the Houthi rebels out of the strategic port city of Hodeidah despite warnings issued by international humanitarian agencies.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, in which 7 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine and cholera has caused more than 2,000 deaths.