22 killed in mosque attack in Yemen’s Marib

DUBAI - Twenty two people were killed in an attack on a mosque during Friday prayers inside a military base in Yemen’s Marib province, local officials said.

Two missiles were fired at the mosque located inside the military camp of Kofal in the west of Marib after a rocket was fired, the officials said. Most of Marib is under the control of forces loyal to President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi. Iran-allied Houthis are battling his internationally recognized government.

Meanwhile, a rebel missile attack killed at least 26 members of pro-government forces in a camp Friday east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, hospital officials in the town of Marib said.

A loyalist military source said the attack, targeted the mosque at Kofel camp in Marib province during Friday weekly prayers.

The attack was carried out with Katyusha-type rockets, said a military official in Marib.

Huthi rebel-controlled news agency Saba said rebels had carried out the attack.

It said the main weapon used was Zelzal-1 Iranian-made missiles and it was followed by artillery fire.

“Dozens of bodies of burned soldiers were evacuated from the site,” it said, without mentioning that a mosque had been hit.

Pro-government forces have retaken large parts of Marib province from Iran-backed Huthi rebels since the March 2015 launch of a Saudi-led intervention in favour of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

 

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt