Saudi Arabian warplanes have mistakenly killed three troops loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed former president and injured eight more.

The friendly fie incident took place on Tuesday as the Saudi jets mistook a group of troops loyal to the former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi for members of the country’s Houthi Ansarullah movement in the central province of Ma'rib.

The Saudi-led war is aimed at reinstating Hadi -- a staunch ally of Riyadh -- and undermining the Ansarullah movement.

The Houthi movement has been running state affairs since 2014, when Hadi resigned and fled to Riyadh before returning to Aden later. The movement has also been defending the country against the Saudi-led offensive.

The protracted war, which has also been accompanied by a naval blockade, has already killed over 12,000 Yemenis.

People stand on the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes in Sana’a, Yemen, on June 9, 2017. (Photo by AP)

The humanitarian situation in Yemen has dramatically deteriorated since the Saudi blockade, which has put the impoverished country on the brink of widespread famine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Yemen is battling against the “world's worst cholera outbreak” which affects 5,000 Yemenis on a daily basis.