UPDATE - Yemen says 39 civilians killed in rebel missile attack in Marib

UPDATES DEATH TOLL

SANAA, Yemen (AA) – At least 39 civilians were killed in a rebel missile attack in Yemen’s central Marib province, according to the government on Monday.

Two ballistic missiles struck late Sunday a residential neighborhood in Al-Jubah district, south of Marib, the local authority in Marib said in a statement.

Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani said the missiles hit a mosque and Dar Al-Hadith (a building used for religious studies) in the densely populated Al-Amoud area.

He said several people were also injured in the attack.

Local authorities had earlier put the death toll from the attack at 29.

There was no comment from the Houthi group on the accusation.

On Thursday, the Yemeni government accused Houthi rebels of killing 13 civilians in a missile attack on Al-Jubah district in Marib.

Since February, Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks to take control of the oil-rich Marib province, one of the most important strongholds of the legitimate government and home to the headquarters of Yemen’s Defense Ministry.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation and caused one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with 233,000 people killed, nearly 80% or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 13 million in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar and Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara