Houthi missile attack kills civilians in Marib

Seven ballistic missiles were launched by Houthi militants on Sunday targeting residential neighborhoods and displacement gatherings in the Yemeni governorate of Marib.

A pro-government military source confirmed the Houthi missile strike on the city.

The ballistic missile launched at Marib’s densely populated neighborhood at dawn have reportedly killed civilians and wounded many others, in addition to causing a state of panic as a result of the heavy bombardment, Yemeni officials said.

The Houthi bombing came after the militias suffered heavy losses among their ranks and military equipment on the southern front of the Marib Governorate recently amid a major escalation in Yemen's seven-year war.

Marib, in an oil-rich province of the same name, is the government's last northern stronghold. The Houthis have been fighting to seize it for months.

The Iran-aligned Houthis are embroiled in a bloody civil war against a Saudi-led military coalition that intervened in 2015 on behalf of the internationally recognized government, which the rebels expelled from the capital, Sanaa.

The United Nations and the United States are pushing for a political solution to end the nearly seven-year war and have repeatedly called on the Houthis to agree to Saudi cease-fire proposal.

Hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the conflict, which the UN has labelled the world's worst humanitarian crisis.