Houthi missile attack kills three children in Yemen’s Taiz

Houthi forces fired a missile at a school in the Taiz region where pro-government forces are stationed, killing 15 soldiers, as well as three children who were nearby. (File/AFP)
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Updated 15 March 2021
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Houthi missile attack kills three children in Yemen’s Taiz

  • 15 Yemeni soldiers also die in attack in Taiz governorate
  • US envoy to Yemen: Plan for truce had been put before Houthis but group was prioritizing offensive in Marib

AL-MUKALLA: Three children and 15 soldiers died in a Houthi missile attack on Sunday on a school in Yemen.

Military sources said the school in Kadha district in the west of Taiz governorate had previously been used as a base by the Iran-backed militia, and was recaptured when pro-government fighters seized Kadha last week.

The 15 government soldiers were inside the school when the Houthi missile struck. The dead children, two brothers and a relative, were near by.

Fighting has recently escalated in Taiz in southwestern Yemen between the Houthis and fighters loyal to the internationally recognized government.

The Yemeni army’s demining teams spent Saturday and Sunday clearing dozens of land mines planted by the Houthis in the recently liberated areas west of the city of Taiz.

FASTFACT

The Yemeni army’s demining teams spent Saturday and Sunday clearing dozens of land mines planted by the Houthis in the recently liberated areas west of the city of Taiz.

Yemen’s army spokesman Col. Abdul Basit Al-Baher told Arab News that the army and local security authorities deployed joint patrols in the liberated areas in Al-Maafer and Maqbanah districts, and urged displaced people to return to their homes.

“There are less intense clashes between the national army and the Houthis in different locations in Taiz on Sunday. The army is currently defusing land mines and securing liberated areas,” Al-Baher said.

Elsewhere, fighting raged between Yemeni government forces and the Houthis over the previous 24 hours in Abbes and Mastaba in the northern province of Hajja, after the Houthis launched a counterattack to recapture areas that had fallen to loyalists. Dozens of rebel fighters were killed in the fighting after failing to make any progress.

Warplanes from the Saudi-led Arab coalition played a key role in defeating the Houthis on Hajja’s battlefield after targeting their military equipment and gatherings of fighters. Images of burnt tanks and armored vehicles circulated on social media on Sunday. 

The clashes in Taiz and Marib in the north come as the US and the UN intensify efforts for a cease-fire to revive UN-sponsored peace talks.

The US envoy to Yemen said last week that a “sound plan” for a truce had been with the Houthis for “a number of days” but they were prioritising their offensive in Marib.

 

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At least 58 corpses found in Libyan hospital, ministry says

Updated 20 May 2025
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At least 58 corpses found in Libyan hospital, ministry says

  • The corpses found on Monday are the second set of unidentified remains discovered in recent days

TRIPOLI: At least 58 unidentified corpses were found on Monday in a hospital in Tripoli that was under the control of a militia whose leader was killed last week, the interior ministry said.
The corpses were found in a morgue refrigerator in Abu Salim Accidents Hospital in the densely populated Abu Salim neighborhood, following a report from the hospital, the ministry said in a statement.
Pictures of corpses with numbers and censored faces were posted by the ministry, showing remains in various states of decomposition on steel carriers and beds. Some of the remains were burnt. An investigation was underway to establish the identities of the deceased.
“So far, 23 corpses have been examined, and all necessary legal procedures have been taken, including documenting data and collecting samples,” the ministry said.
Abu Salim was home to a militia known as the Stabilization Support Apparatus, whose chief, Abdulghani Kikli, widely known as Ghaniwa, was killed in unconfirmed circumstances last Monday.
Kikli’s killing led to the sudden defeat of the SSA by factions aligned to internationally recognized Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
On Tuesday, Dbeibah ordered armed groups to be dismantled, triggering the fiercest clashes Tripoli had seen in years between two armed groups. The clashes killed at least eight civilians, according to the United Nations.
The corpses found on Monday are the second set of unidentified remains discovered in recent days. On Saturday, officials said nine corpses had been found in a morgue refrigerator in Al-Khadra hospital, another SSA-controlled hospital in the Abu Salim neighborhood.
The militia had not reported the corpses to the relevant authorities, the interior ministry said.
Dbeibah said on Saturday that eliminating militias was an “ongoing project,” as a ceasefire after last week’s clashes remained in place.
The GNU posted a video on Monday showing bulldozers demolishing the so-called 77 camp, one of the biggest facilities that was under control of SSA. The camp is to be turned into a national park.
Libya has had little stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising ousted longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi. The country split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions, though an outbreak of major warfare paused with a truce in 2020.


Netanyahu says UK-French-Canada condemnation gives ‘huge prize’ to Hamas

Updated 20 May 2025
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Netanyahu says UK-French-Canada condemnation gives ‘huge prize’ to Hamas

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hit back at condemnation of his country’s military offensive in Gaza by the leaders of France, Canada and Britain saying they had given a “huge prize” to Hamas.
“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the October 2023 attack that set off the Gaza war.


Palestinian hospital chief calls for pressure on Israel

Updated 20 May 2025
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Palestinian hospital chief calls for pressure on Israel

HELSINKI: An East Jerusalem hospital chief told AFP on Monday that Gaza was in a “catastrophic” state after weeks of a complete blockade of humanitarian aid and called on countries to act to end the suffering of civilians.
Fadi Atrash, chief executive of the Augusta Victoria-Hospital in East Jerusalem — which helps Palestinians from the occupied territories and Gaza — said he could no longer “find the words” to describe the crisis faced by people in war-torn Gaza.
“We are facing a very, very critical and catastrophic situation,” he said, with all components of the health care system destroyed, and health care workers “running out of energy.”
Augusta Victoria, which had a hospital in Gaza that has been destroyed in Israeli bombings now provides health care in Gaza with the limited resources available, Atrash said.
Atrash visited Finland — which has not recognized Palestine as a state — on Monday as part of a tour of the Nordic countries.
“My main message for the Nordic countries is to put pressure to stop the war, to stop the killing.”
Humanitarian food, medical and fuel supplies have been blocked from entering Gaza for 11 weeks, and the World Health Organization has warned that two million people face starvation.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb joined other European leaders on Monday to call on Israel to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Stubb also said “forced displacement of populations is a war crime and cannot form part of any solution,” in a post on X.
Israel this month approved an expanded military offensive in Gaza but has agreed to let limited aid into Gaza.


Gaza civil defense says 91 killed in Israeli strikes Monday

Updated 20 May 2025
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Gaza civil defense says 91 killed in Israeli strikes Monday

GAZA CITY: A Gaza civil defense official said that 91 people were killed in strikes and attacks throughout Monday as Israel steps up an offensive in the Palestinian territory.
The deaths had been recorded since the early hours of Monday, according to Mohammed Al-Mughayyir, an official in the civil defense agency of the Hamas-run territory. The department had earlier given a toll of 52 dead.


Yemen’s Houthis threaten Israeli port

Updated 20 May 2025
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Yemen’s Houthis threaten Israeli port

SANAA: Yemen’s Houthis said Monday that they would target Haifa port in Israel as part of a “naval blockade” in response to Israeli escalation in the Gaza war.
The Houthis would “begin working to enforce a naval blockade of the port of Haifa,” said military spokesman Yehya Saree.
“All companies with ships present in or heading to this port are hereby notified that, as of the time of this announcement, the aforementioned port has been included in the target bank,” the Houthi spokesman added.
The move was “in response to the Israeli enemy’s escalation of its brutal aggression against our people and in Gaza,” he said, adding their attacks on Israel would “cease once the aggression on Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted.”
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country will “take control” of the whole of Gaza, as rescuers reported dozens killed in a newly intensified offensive.