Saudi-backed Yemeni forces struck a market in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province on Monday, killing at least ten civilians and wounding dozens more, according to reports in Yemeni media.
While most of the major civilian massacres in Yemen have been caused by Saudi aircraft, the SABA news agency reported that the attack was carried out by “mercenaries of the Saudi-led aggression” and didn’t specify the weapon that was used.
SABA initially reported that eight civilians were killed, while Al Masirah TV later reported that the death toll rose to 10. Al Masirah also aired footage of wounded people being treated at a hospital after the strike.
The market is located in Taiz’s al-Mesrakh district, which Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, captured last month as part of its ground offensive that began in early September, about two months after Saudi Arabia reignited the war by bombing the Sanaa International Airport.
Ansar Allah currently controls most of the Taiz province but not Taiz city, which it has under siege, causing severe shortages for the civilian population. Ansar Allah attacks have also killed civilians, though the US-backed Saudi bombing campaign appears to be responsible for far more civilian deaths over the course of the war.
The Yemeni Health Ministry within the Sanaa-based Ansar Allah-led Yemeni government said on Saturday that since mid-July, Saudi attacks in Yemen have killed at least 232 civilians, including 68 children and 35 women. The US is providing targeting and intelligence support for the campaign and has resumed refueling Saudi warplanes.
