Missile and drone attacks by Houthi forces on the government-controlled Yemeni city of Marib have wounded several people and damaged residential neighborhoods, according to local authorities.
The Marib provincial government said that on Saturday, Houthi forces fired four ballistic missiles and four drones at the city, wounding several people and damaging homes, vehicles, and property. A fifth ballistic missile late in the day also wounded one person. Marib provincial officials posted on social media platform X that a sixth missile was fired toward the city overnight into early Sunday.
The provincial government described the attacks as part of a "continuous assault threatening civilian lives, displacement camps, and residential areas." Marib currently hosts the largest number of internally displaced people in Yemen, with more than 2 million of the 5 million people who have fled their homes due to the war living there.
Video verified by Al Jazeera showed the devastation following Saturday's attacks. Yemen's Information Ministry posted on X that the continued targeting of Marib's densely populated areas is a dangerous "escalation" threatening lives and increasing suffering.
The attacks coincided with fighting further south. Yemeni government forces said Saturday drone strikes killed three Iran-backed Houthi fighters, including commanders, and wounded others on the Maqbanah front west of Taiz. A separate strike destroyed a Houthi military vehicle in Jabal al-Zuhayb, killing more fighters and wounding others, according to a military source from the Yemeni news agency (Saba).
The attacks are part of a rapid escalation in Yemen since early August, when Houthi missile and drone attacks on military camps in Marib and Hadramout killed at least 30 government soldiers — the deadliest such incident in years. Days later, Houthi missiles killed at least two civilians and wounded 14 in Marib. Subsequent attacks killed seven people in the port city of al-Makha (Mocha).
The Houthis, backed by Iran, control large parts of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg warned the Security Council on Thursday that Yemen faces the highest risk of returning to full-scale war since the UN-brokered ceasefire in April 2022, as fighting intensifies on multiple fronts and threatens to shatter more than four years of relative calm.
