Police in the southern Yemeni city of Aden have announced the arrest of a “terrorist cell” linked to the Houthi rebels that “threatened security and stability” in the interim capital of the internationally recognised government.

A security operation resulted in the arrest of “elements affiliated with an organised terrorist cell that were recruited and trained in areas controlled by the terrorist Houthi militias”, the Aden police said in a statement on Facebook on Monday.

Police did not say when the operation took place, but added that investigations revealed that the cell is connected with “terrorist” Amjad Khaled Farhan, “who co-ordinates his criminal activity with the Houthi militias”.

Investigations also found “a systematic recruitment process for young people from Aden”, who were then transferred to secret camps in the Al Hawban area of ​​Taiz governorate, where they received “intensive Houthi combat and military training courses that lasted for weeks”, the statement said.

Recruits were taught how to manufacture, prepare and plant explosive devices, and how to use drone technology, the statement said.

The cell aimed to carry out “terrorist operations” to destabilise the interim capital, as well as track the movements of security and military leaders in Aden and attack them, police added.

Yemen was plunged into civil war after the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen in 2014, forcing the internationally recognised government into exile.

A coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened the following year in an attempt to restore the government.

The war has been at a stalemate in recent years. The rebels have stopped attacks on Saudi Arabia in return for the Saudi-led coalition halting attacks on their territories.

The Houthis gained prominence during Israel's war on Gaz