ADDS NUMBER OF DEATHS, INJURED
By Abdullah Ahmed and Safiye Karabacak
SANA'A, MAARIB, Yemen (AA) – Yemen's defense minister and army chief of staff survived a ballistic missile attack by Houthi rebels in Maarib province Wednesday, according to military sources.
The attack targeted a military headquarters where Chief of Staff Sagheer bin Aziz was meeting with army commanders, Yemeni National Army spokesman Abdo Abdullah Majali said in a statement.
Eight soldiers were killed and another was injured, Majali said.
Defense Minister Mohammad Ali Al-Maqdashi was present at the meeting and also survived the attack, a military source told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Fahd bin Aziz, the son of the Yemeni army chief of staff, and his nephew were among the dead, the source said.
Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sana’a.
The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis as millions remain at risk of starvation.
*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat and Zehra Nur Duz
