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Houthi forces fired several ballistic missiles at civilian infrastructure in Yemen's central Marib province on Saturday, triggering a series of explosions across the densely populated region, a Yemeni official said, as fears grew over potential casualties.
Assistant Information Minister Fayyad al-Numan said on the social media platform X, citing local sources, that Houthi forces targeted civilian sites in Marib with multiple ballistic missiles. Local sources reported a series of explosions across the province, which they attributed to missiles launched toward the city, al-Numan said.
The full extent of the damage remained unclear in the immediate aftermath of the strikes. Al-Numan said casualties were feared given Marib's dense population, which includes large numbers of people displaced from other parts of the country by years of civil war.
State-run Saba TV reported that Houthi forces had resumed shelling Marib city, saying it was struck by three ballistic missiles. Government-aligned Aljoumhouriya TV separately reported three large explosions in the city as a result of the attack.
Neither broadcaster's account, nor the information minister's statement, could immediately be independently verified.
Marib, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognized government's military operations in the north, has been a focal point of the country's conflict since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014, touching off a war that has run nearly 12 years. A Saudi-led coalition has backed Yemeni government forces against the Houthis, whom Iran is accused of supporting.
The country had seen a relative lull in large-scale fighting since April 2022. In recent weeks, however, combat has flared again in several provinces, including Marib, Al-Jawf, Al-Dhalea and Taiz, deepening what the United Nations has long described as one of the world's most severe humanitarian and economic crises.
Saturday's strikes come against a backdrop of escalating friction between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. The group announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in July, adding to tensions in a conflict that has repeatedly drawn in regional and international shipping interests along the Red Sea corridor.
No group had claimed responsibility for the missile launches beyond the attribution made by Yemeni officials and state-aligned media as of Saturday.
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