Yemen government condemns Houthi escalation as Marib residential zones targeted
Ballistic missiles and drones strike displaced persons’ camps and homes in Marib, killing civilians and soldiers in the deadliest surge of fighting in years.
Yemen’s Ministry of Information has condemned a fresh wave of Houthi attacks on the government-held city of Marib as a dangerous escalation that threatens civilians and displaced persons. The ministry stated that the continued targeting of densely populated areas marks a significant deterioration in security, increasing suffering for the region’s residents.
Marib’s provincial authority reported that Houthi forces launched four ballistic missiles and four drones at the city on Saturday. The strikes caused injuries and damage to homes, vehicles, and property. A fifth ballistic missile injured one person later in the day, and a sixth was launched overnight, according to officials on X. Video footage verified by Al Jazeera showed destruction in the aftermath of the Saturday strikes.
The attacks are part of a rapid intensification of conflict since early August. Houthi missile and drone strikes on military camps in Marib and Hadramout have killed at least 30 government soldiers, described as the deadliest single episode of the conflict in years. Days later, Houthi missiles killed at least two civilians and wounded 14 in Marib, and further strikes killed seven people in the port city of al-Makha (Mocha).
Marib hosts the largest number of internally displaced people in Yemen, with more than two million of the roughly five million Yemenis forced from their homes over the course of the war living there. The Ministry of Information described the ongoing assault as a threat to the lives of civilians, displaced persons’ camps, and residential neighbourhoods.
United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg warned the UN Security Council on Thursday that Yemen faces its highest risk of returning to full-scale war since the UN-brokered truce of April 2022. The current fighting threatens to unravel more than four years of relative calm established by the agreement.
Clashes were also reported further south, where Yemeni government forces claimed drone strikes killed three Houthi fighters, including field commanders, and wounded others along the Maqbanah front west of Taiz. A separate strike destroyed a Houthi military vehicle in Jabal al-Zuhayb, killing several more fighters, according to a military source cited by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba).
The Houthis, backed by Iran, control much of Yemen’s northern territory, including the capital, Sanaa. The escalation in Marib and other regions underscores the fragility of the current political landscape and the potential for renewed large-scale hostilities.
