5 children injured in Houthi shelling in Yemen

Five Yemeni children were injured yesterday in shelling carried out by the Iranian-backed Houthi group on a residential neighbourhood in Yemen’s southwestern city of Taiz.

A military source told Anadolu Agency that the children were hit “while they were playing in the street,” adding that they were transferred to the hospital in a “serious condition”.

“The Houthis intensified their shelling during the past hours and targeted a number of residential neighbourhoods located in Taiz’s eastern part,” the local source pointed out on condition of anonymity.

Taiz, the centre of the governorate of the same name, is partially controlled by the Yemeni government, while Houthis control the rest of the province’s most populated areas. The two rivals have been at war across the province since April 2015.

Yemen has been mired by civil war between local government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthis. The United Nations said that the war has led to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, pushing millions to the brink of starvation and with 80 per cent of the population in need of aid. The conflict has killed 112,000 people, 12,000 of whom are civilians, according to the UN’s official data.

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