At least two civilians were killed and 14 others wounded in the latest Houthi attack on the government-controlled city of Marib in Yemen, according to the internationally recognized government.
Yemen's Health Minister Qassem Bahaibah condemned the Iran-backed Houthi forces as a "terrorist militia" in a post on social media platform X on Friday, noting that the casualty figures were preliminary. He also confirmed that authorities had directed all medical facilities to raise their alert levels and readiness.
Friday's attack came a day after the Houthis claimed to have killed at least 30 government soldiers in the Hadramout and Marib provinces.
In a statement released by Yemen's Ministry of Public Health and Population, the government condemned the attack "in the strongest terms." The statement read: "The deliberate targeting of safe residential areas and displacement camps, along with the casualties inflicted on unarmed civilians, constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and all humanitarian values and conventions."
"This places the international community and humanitarian and human rights organizations before their responsibilities, and calls for a serious and urgent stance to protect civilians and end their continued targeting."
Marib currently hosts the largest number of displaced families in Yemen, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Earlier on Friday, Yemen's Defense Ministry said its forces had shot down several Houthi drones over Marib. The Houthi forces did not immediately comment on the government's statements.
The attacks come amid intermittent fighting on multiple fronts in Yemen since early July, which has left dozens of casualties on both sides. The Houthis have also escalated attacks against Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, following heightened tensions from the US and Israeli war on Iran.
The Saudi-led coalition, which supports Yemen's internationally recognized government, said on Friday that 11 people, including a four-year-old boy, were injured in a Houthi attack on the southwestern Saudi city of Najran on Thursday.
The escalation between the Houthis and Riyadh comes as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed a joint defense pact on Friday, stipulating that an attack on any of the three countries would be considered an attack on all.
The Iran-backed Houthis have controlled Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since 2014. Since then, they have been fighting the Saudi-backed internationally recognized government, based in the port city of Aden.
