WorldMiddle East
Air strike near Taiz kills four of one family; migrant shelter hit in Saada
Houthi health officials blamed Saudi Arabia for both strikes in northern and south-western Yemen. Riyadh did not respond.
Key points
- A strike on a house in Hiba, near Taiz, killed four members of one family, Houthi health officials said.
- Five others were wounded, among them women and children.
- A separate strike on a migrant shelter in Saada injured seven people early on Saturday.
An air strike late on Friday night hit a house in Hiba, near the south-western Yemeni city of Taiz, killing four people from the same family, the Houthi-run health authorities said on Saturday. Five other people were wounded. Women and children were among the victims.
A separate strike early on Saturday hit a shelter for migrants in Saada, the Houthi heartland in the far north of the country, injuring seven people, the officials said.
Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi health ministry, blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes. Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment.
The strikes came as the war between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition moved across the border in both directions. Early on Saturday the coalition said it had intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile fired at Riyadh and destroyed a drone over the Eastern Province.
On Friday the coalition said it had shot down two Houthi missiles aimed at Riyadh and Khamis Mushait. Its spokesman, Turki Al-Malki, rejected Houthi claims that Saudi forces had struck tribal and civilian gatherings as “false allegations with no basis in fact”.
Fighting has flared since a four-year truce in Yemen broke down in July. Taiz has seen some of the heaviest clashes, and the United Nations says nearly 260,000 people have been displaced there since August.
Saada has been hit before in recent weeks. The officials did not say where the migrants in the shelter had come from or how badly they were hurt.