Eleven children injured in Houthi mortar strike in Yemen

TAIZ (Yemen): Eleven children were injured when a mortar shell fired by the Iran-backed Houthis on Saturday (July 23) struck a residential area in the city of Taiz, in southern Yemen.Taiz Police stated that the Houthis carried out the mortar attack on Taiz's Zeid al-Mushki District, reported Anadolu Agency quoting a statement.

The statement added that 11 children, mostly under the age of 10, were seriously and moderately injured in the attack, noting that it was a clear violation of the ceasefire and a terrible crime.

On June 2, Yemen's warring rivals agreed to extend the UN-brokered truce for two additional months. Under the ceasefire, which was first reached on April 2, all military operations were halted. The agreement also allowed the operation of commercial flights from rebel-held Sanaa Airport in the Yemeni capital.

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

The Houthis remain in control of the capital, as well as wide swathes of territory, despite a military campaign conducted by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies since 2015 aimed at ousting them and restoring the Yemeni government.

The Saudi-led campaign has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in the war-torn nation. Millions suffer from hunger amid persistent famine-like conditions.

-- BERNAMA