Houthi Attack in Yemen Kills Mother, Son

Houthi militias shelled a residential area in Yemen's southwestern province of Taiz on Saturday, killing a mother and her son, a local medical official said.

The shelling struck their house in the village of al-Hajamah in the al-Abous district, damaging several other houses and farms in the area.

The medical official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the attack was the latest in a series of Houthi shellings on Taiz, which has been under the rebels' siege for more than seven years.

The Houthis have maintained a tight blockade of Taiz, cutting off major roads to the province. As a result, it often take days for residents to have access to food and medicine, which needs to be transported via mountainous and dirt roads.

Lifting the blockade of roads to Taiz is one of Yemeni government's main requests during the ongoing peace negotiations in the war-torn country.

The Yemeni government and Houthi rebels have engaged in several rounds of negotiations facilitated by the United Nations, but a comprehensive resolution to the conflict remains elusive.

Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014, with the Houthis fighting against the internationally-recognized Yemeni government. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in the conflict to support the Yemeni government in 2015.