Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis held military funerals on Monday for 25 fighters killed in battles with the Saudi-led coalition in the Marib region.

Fighting shows no sign of abating despite intense international diplomacy to end the seven-year-old conflict.

The funerals took place as fighting has raged in the gas-rich Marib region, while warplanes from the coalition have intensified their bombing of Sanaa, Marib and other areas.

The Houthis have also stepped up cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia using armed drones and missiles.

An honor guard carried the coffins - draped with flags, flowers and photographs of the dead - with military music through the capital Sanaa. Relatives gathered to mourn their loved ones.

"We are in these days inspired by these martyrs' pride and dignity and say to them: 'congratulations! You have preceded us to a paradise as wide as the heavens and earth'," said Ali Muhyaddin, a relative of one of the dead.

The war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and caused what the United Nations describes as the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

UN-led efforts to agree a ceasefire have stalled in the conflict, which is seen largely as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Report by Reuters