Two civilians killed in Houthi strike on Marib, says Yemen’s government

What the report says

Yemen’s internationally recognised government says a Houthi attack on the government-held city of Marib killed at least two civilians and injured 14 others. Health Minister Qassem Bahaibah said the casualty count was still preliminary and accused the Iran-aligned movement of striking residential areas and displacement camps. He also said health facilities had been told to increase their readiness.

The government condemned the attack in strong terms and said the reported targeting of civilians amounted to a serious breach of international humanitarian law. Marib is significant because it hosts a large number of displaced families, according to the UN refugee agency, making the city both a military and humanitarian flashpoint in Yemen’s long-running conflict.

The strike came one day after the Houthis, according to the government, killed at least 30 government soldiers in Hadramout and Marib provinces. Yemen’s Defence Ministry also said its forces had intercepted several Houthi drones over Marib on Friday. The Houthis had not publicly responded to the government’s claims at the time of the report.

The wider conflict has continued through intermittent fighting on several fronts since early July, and tensions have also risen between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. More broadly, the war in Yemen began in 2014 after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and the movement has since battled the Saudi-backed government based in Aden.