Yemen's Shia Houthi rebels have killed the capital's governor in clashes that erupted during an attempt to detain him, his relatives said Friday.

Sanaa governor Abdulghani Jamil and his nephew Nasr Jamil died of wounds suffered in clashes late Thursday between his aides and the Iran-backed militiamen, they said.

Jamil was appointed by exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia after the rebels seized power in Sanaa and later advanced on his last refuge in the south, the port city of Aden.

The Houthis "demanded Jamil hand himself in" but he refused, resulting in a firefight, relatives said.

The Houthis, allied with renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been in control of Sanaa since September, despite more than two months of Saudi-led coalition air strikes against their positions across the country.

Coalition warplanes on Friday hit rebel positions in the eastern oil-rich Marib province, killing three local Houthi leaders, an official in the region said.