11 children injured in Houthi mortar strike in Yemen
TAIZ, YEMEN (AA): A mortar shell fired by the Iran-backed Houthis on Saturday injured 11 children in the city of Taiz in southern Yemen.
Taiz Police stated that the Houthis carried out the mortar attack on Taiz’s Zeid al-Mushki District.
The statement added that the children, mostly under the age of 10, were seriously and moderately injured in the attack, noting that it was a clear violation of the ceasefire.
On June 2, Yemen’s warring rivals agreed to extend the UN-brokered truce for two additional months. Under the ceasefire, which was first reached on April 2, all military operations were halted. The agreement also allowed the operation of commercial flights from rebel-held Sanaa Airport in the Yemeni capital.
Yemen has been engulfed by violence since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including Sanaa. The Houthis remain in control of the capital, as well as wide swathes of territory, despite a military campaign conducted by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies since 2015 aimed at ousting them and restoring the Yemeni government.
The Saudi-led campaign has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in the war-torn country. Millions suffer from hunger amid persistent famine-like conditions.