Houthi shells kill 10 civilians

Six others injured in attack on poor suburb of Taez

ADEN // Ten civilians were killed and six injured yesterday when Yemen’s Houthi rebels shelled a poor residential area of Taez city, a medic said. Three people were killed when the rebels fired on a home in the government-held Al Noor neighbourhood on Wednesday night. When rescuers arrived to help the victims, the Houthis struck at them too, killing seven of them, said rescuer Mohammed Azazi.

“There are no military targets in Al Noor area, and most of the residents there are poor people,” Mr Azazi said. “But the Houthis ... are targeting residential areas randomly.”

Fighters loyal to Yemeni president Adrabu Mansur Hadi have maintained control of Al Noor, in western Taez city, but it is largely surrounded by areas held by the Houthis and allied renegade soldiers.

“The Houthis are besieging us to kill us. This is against all laws of humanity, but ... they do not respect these laws,” Mr Azazi said, adding that the victims of the shelling were all men who had left behind poor family members who would struggle to feed themselves.

Also yesterday, loyalists in the coastal district of Dhubab, west of Taez city, confirmed that military reinforcements had arrived in Al Gadeeda area on the coastal road to Mokha. Pro-government forces are preparing to retake the port city of Mokha, 30 kilometres north of Dhubab.