Yemeni rebel factions held new talks Friday aimed at ending infighting that left at least three more people dead overnight and raised fears of a new front in the country's devastating three-year war.The internal rift has shaken the fragile alliance between the Iran-backed Huthis and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who joined ranks in 2014 to seize Sanaa.

The former enemies drove President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government out of the capital, which has been rocked by rebel infighting for the past two nights.

In an effort to reach a truce, Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) said a joint committee had launched talks in Sanaa to find "a solution that would restore calm".

The Huthis, tribal rebels who hail from northern Yemen, confirmed they had also sent representatives to the meeting.

The GPC accused the Huthis, also known as Ansarullah, of targeting the ex-president's nephew, who is a military commander in the forces loyal to Saleh, late on Thursday.

"We were surprised by an armed attack by Ansarullah targeting the guards of the house of Brigadier Tareq Saleh, which left three dead and wounded three others," read a statement released by the party.