Three dead and 30 injured in strikes on Yemen's Marib city

Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched two missile strikes on strategic city

Shells fall during clashes between forces loyal to Yemen's internationally-recognised government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Marib province. AFP

Houthi missile strikes on the Yemeni city of Marib on Sunday killed a woman and two children and wounded at least 30 other people, military sources said.

Two missile launched by the Iran-backed rebels hit a residential area, military sources told AFP, adding that six women and five children were among the wounded.

The tolls were confirmed by medical sources.

Hundreds of insurgents and pro-government troops have been killed in the rebels' renewed campaign to take Marib, the government's last stronghold in Yemen's oil-rich north.

One of the missiles was aimed at the home of army Chief of Staff Gen Saghir bin Aziz, while the second hit civilian homes near by, military sources said.

"The targeting of women and children is the work of cowards," Gen Aziz said on his Facebook page after the attack.

The Houthis initially escalated their efforts to seize Marib in February, hoping to gain control of the region's oil resources and strengthen their position in peace talks.

About 120 kilometres east of the rebel-held capital Sanaa, Marib sits at a crossroads between the southern and northern regions.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in the fighting that started in 2014. The Houthis seized Sanaa after the government left in January 2015.

About 80 per cent of Yemen's 30 million people are dependent on aid, in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.