UPDATE - Yemen: 87 killed in Houthi attack on military camp

CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL; NUMBER OF WOUNDED ADDED; REVISED THROUGHOUT

By Cagri Kosak and Gulsen Topcu

MARIB, Yemen (AA) - The death toll from an airstrike by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on a government military camp in western Yemen has hit 87, said military sources on Sunday.

An armed unmanned aerial vehicle was used in the Saturday attack on a camp in the city of Marib, according to military sources from the government. Some 30 people were also injured in the attack.

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi had said that the Houthi assault targeting the camp’s mosque exposes the Houthi rebels’ reluctance to pursue peace.

A source from Marib State Hospital, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to media, told Anadolu Agency that most of the dead were soldiers targeted by mortar while resting.

- Clash with Yemeni army

Separately, at least 23 Houthi rebels and three Yemeni army soldiers were killed Saturday in clashes in the capital, Sanaa.

According to Yemeni security sources, the Yemeni army carried out preemptive action against Houthi rebels preparing to attack military points in the Nihm district.

The army said it repulsed a Houthi attack in the Al-Bayda province.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014 when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis are believed to have been killed and injured in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.

* Writing by Davut Demircan, Erdogan Cagatay Zontur