Civilians killed in Houthi attack on village community in Yemen

Raid occurs days after Houthi landmine killed six civilians, including two children, in southern Hodeidah

Yemeni children at a camp for families displaced by fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces in Jawf and Marib provinces in northern Yemen. Reuters  

Seven civilians were killed and 10 injured on Sunday after Houthi rebels bombarded a village in Al Durayhimi district in Yemen’s Hodeidah province.

Several of the wounded suffered serious injuries.

"At 11.30am on Sunday, the Houthi rebels deliberately targeted the populated village of Al Qazah in south-western Al Durayhimi using far-range artillery, killing seven civilians – five women and two children," a medical source told The National.

“Some of the injured were transferred to the field hospital in Al Khokhah city, and those who suffered fatal injuries were taken to a hospital affiliated with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Al Makha city, southern Hodeidah."

Pro-government joint forces fighting the Houthi rebels on Yemen’s west coast condemned the massacre and blamed the UN commission, which is monitoring the ceasefire in Hodeidah, for its silence regarding Houthi atrocities against residents in Hodeidah.

"The horrible massacre, which was committed by the Houthi rebels this morning against the residents of Al Qazah village in Al Durayhimi, is not the first and it won't be the last," Faris Al Hussam, deputy manager of Al Amalika media centre in Hodeidah, told The National.

"The UN commission monitoring the ceasefire in Hodeidah failed to clearly condemn the Houthi violations and the horrible crimes they have been committing against the civilians in areas of southern and western Hodeidah.

“In one week, from November 22 to November 29, about 35 civilians were either killed or injured by Houthi projectiles in different areas in Hodeidah. The majority of the victims are women and children."

The Houthi attack came four days after a similar incident in southern Hodeidah last Tuesday, when six civilians, including two children, died after their car drove over a Houthi mine on a dirt road linking the districts of Al Tuhaiyta and Al Khokha.