Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency reported on Friday that Houthi rebels had launched fresh missile and drone attacks on the eastern Yemeni city of Marib, a day after a series of strikes on government military positions left dozens dead and wounded.
Yemeni armed forces shot down several Houthi drones over Marib, according to the report. Videos circulating on social media showed smoke rising over the city.
The Houthis have not issued a statement on this latest attack.
Mohammed Hamoud / Getty Images
The new strikes came after Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced Thursday that the group carried out a “large-scale and special military operation” targeting “Saudi military build-ups in Marib and Hadramawt.”
He claimed the operation killed and wounded hundreds of Yemeni soldiers and destroyed military camps, weapons depots and equipment in the Al-Wadiah area in eastern Yemen.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni Joint Operations Command, however, confirmed the deaths of 17 soldiers and officers in the Houthi attacks. The AFP news agency put the death toll at at least 58 government troops.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Friday that 11 civilians were wounded in what it described as “Houthi terrorist attacks” targeting the southern Saudi city of Najran.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the injured included seven Saudi nationals, among them a woman and a 4-year-old child, as well as one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani. He added that some of the victims suffered second-degree burns.
Al-Maliki accused the Houthis of using indiscriminate projectiles against civilian areas, describing the attack as “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and its customary rules” through the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
He said the Joint Forces Command would continue taking the necessary measures to respond to the attacks and ensure the protection of civilians.
