Aden — Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi said Houthi militias were the masterminds behind the explosion that targeted a mourning tent on Friday, killing at least five people and wounding 20 in the city of Marib, east of the capital Sanaa.
He said the militias “won’t hesitate to do anything that would kill and destroy.”
Local officials said the explosion was caused by a roadside bomb near the mourning tent where condolences were being paid for Maj. Gen. Abdul-Rab Al-Shadadi who was killed last week while leading an offensive against the Iranian-backed Houthi militias, local media reported.
Among those killed in Friday’s blast was Salem Al-Shadadi, the elder brother of the general.
Shadadi, commander of Yemen’s Third Military Region — which has its headquarters in the city of Marib — was the most senior member of the pro-Hadi forces to be killed in nearly 19 months of civil war in Yemen.
Most of Marib is under the control of forces loyal to President Hadi.
Meanwhile, the capturing of a number of Houthis and forces loyal to ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh in west Marib by Yemen’s national army and popular resistance forces is one of the latest major setbacks for the Iran-backed militias.
Among those captured were Houthi militia leaders Hussain Al-Mutawakel and Abu Jabar Ahmad Al-Houthi, according to Al Arabiya sources.
Civilian sources told Al Arabiya that the Yemeni national army were able to regain control – after violent clashes – of the direct route between the capital Sanaa and Marib through Sirwah district.
The news in Marib comes after security sources confirmed that senior Houthi militia leader Abdullah Qayed Al-Fadeea was killed on Tuesday in the frontlines near Najran and on Yemeni grounds by Arab coalition forces.
During the same day, six civilians were killed and eight wounded on Monday when two rockets fired by Houthi rebels hit a popular market in Taiz, military and medical sources said.
