The battle of Marib, which started in February, has intensified in recent weeks.
At least 22 people were killed, including several children, in Yemen during a bombardment south of the city of Marib, the scene of a fierce battle, government officials said Monday, blaming Houthi rebels.
A government official who requested anonymity stated that “at least 22 people, including children, were killed and 19 injured by the Houthi bombing that hit a mosque in the al Jawba sector.”
Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al Iryani had earlier announced on Twitter that 29 people, including women and children, had been killed in the bombing.
“This horrible massacre is part of a series of systematic killings of civilians by the Houthi terrorist militia,” he added.
The Houthis, who did not react at first to the accusations, are seeking to conquer the city of Marib, the head of the province of the same name and the last stronghold of the government in the north of the country.
On Thursday, thirteen people, including a child, were killed by a missile aimed at the home of a tribal chief in southern Marib, according to a government military source, which also accused the rebels.
The battle of Marib, which started in February, has intensified in recent weeks. Which leads the rebels to claim that they have advanced.
The Saudi-led military coalition, present in support of the Yemeni government since 2015, ensures the air support of the ground troops, who seek to repel the rebel offensive in Marib.
For the rebels, the taking of Marib is no more than “a matter of time,” they claimed last week.
For three weeks now, the coalition has claimed almost every day that it is causing significant losses to the rebels thanks to its airstrikes, but the casualty balances cannot be independently verified.
The Houthis, close to Iran, hardly speak of their casualties in the fighting.
The war that broke out in Yemen in 2014 has become the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the UN. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died and millions of people are displaced, according to international NGOs. (I)
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