Houthi forces launched several strikes on the government-held city of Marib, hitting residential neighbourhoods and injuring people, according to Marib’s provincial authority and governorate officials. The attacks on Saturday involved four ballistic missiles and four drones, followed by a fifth missile later that day and a sixth launched towards the city overnight into Sunday.
The strikes damaged homes, vehicles and other property, while officials warned that the attacks threaten civilians, displaced people and residential areas. Marib is home to more than two million internally displaced Yemenis, the largest internally displaced population in the country.
What happened in Marib
Marib’s provincial authority said the initial strikes caused several injuries and described them as part of an “ongoing assault” on the city. Governorate officials later said the fifth ballistic missile injured one person; they reported the sixth launch early on Sunday without giving details of additional casualties.
Yemen’s Ministry of Information called the continued targeting of densely populated areas a dangerous “escalation” that threatens lives and increases suffering. Video footage verified by the source report showed destruction after Saturday’s strikes.
Related coverage: Yemen government reports deadly Houthi missile attack on al-Makha.
A broader escalation across Yemen
The attacks on Marib coincided with clashes farther south. Yemeni government forces said drone strikes on Saturday killed three Houthi fighters, including field commanders, and wounded others along the Maqbanah front west of Taiz. A separate strike on a Houthi military vehicle in Jabal al-Zuhayb killed several more fighters, according to a military source cited by the Yemeni News Agency.
The latest violence follows an escalation that began in early August. Houthi missile and drone strikes on military camps in Marib and Hadramout killed at least 30 government soldiers, while subsequent attacks killed at least two civilians and wounded 14 in Marib, and killed seven people in al-Makha.
Why Marib matters
Marib hosts more than two million of the roughly five million Yemenis displaced during the war. The concentration of displaced people in and around the city makes strikes on residential areas and nearby camps a direct concern for civilians already forced from their homes.
More context: Yemen says Houthi attack on Tihamah killed six.
The Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg told the Security Council that Yemen faces its highest risk of returning to full-scale war since the UN-brokered truce of April 2022, as fighting intensifies on several fronts.
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