Off the wire
• Sweden looks to tax airlines over climate change  • Kyrgyz president approves appointment of prime minister  • Task team set up to look into drought crisis in S. Africa  • African countries agree on measures to protect elephants  • Death toll from Pakistan's Lahore factory collapse rises to 29  • V. Williams, Pliskova into last four at Zhuhai  • Warsaw hosts security forum  • Turkey to open military zones in Cyprus for missing persons search  • British new car sales see first drop in three-and-a-half years  • Palestine, Holy See flags raised at UN in Nairobi  
You are here: 　 Home

Mortar shells kill 10 civilians in southern Yemen

Xinhua, November 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Mortar shells fired by gunmen of the Shiite Houthi group killed at least 10 civilians and injured scores of others in Yemen's southern province of Taiz on Thursday, a medical official told Xinhua.

"About 10 civilians including two women were killed and scores of others injured when random mortar shells and rockets landed on residential buildings in Taiz city," the local medical official said on condition of anonymity.

"After fierce battles, the Houthi gunmen fired several rockets against fighters loyal to the Yemeni government but mistakenly struck houses in the provincial capital of Taiz city and killed civilians only," the medical source at Rawdha hospital said.

Local residents said that fierce battle continued between Houthis and pro-government fighters amid huge explosions that rocked the eastern parts of Taiz.

Last week, the Saudi-led Arab coalition air dropped weapons for the pro-government fighters while a number of the UAE armored vehicles arrived in Taiz coming from the southern port city of Aden, according to local military officials.

The sources confirmed that the UAE armored vehicles were seen in the ongoing armed confrontations against Houthis and their allies in the city.

The Saudi-led coalition made up of nine states has been air striking the Houthi group on a daily basis across Yemen since March 26, when Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to the Saudi capital Riyadh to take refuge.

The coalition said its intervention aims to restore Hadi's authority in the country.

The Shiite armed group seized much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa last September, and ousted Hadi and his government.

Pro-government forces, backed by elite troops and armored vehicles from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have recaptured five southern provinces, including the southern city port of Aden, after a series of ground offensives against the Houthis since July. Endit