Houthi attack kills 13-year-old in Taez school

Another 18-year-old pupil was injured

People walk in a market street in Yemen's southwestern city of Taez.  AFP  

Houthis rebels have shelled a public school in Yemen's Taez killing a student and injuring another, local sources told The National.

Ahmed Abdulghafoor, 13, was killed and an 18-year-old female student injured when a Houthi mortar hit the school while pupils were leaving, Mohammed Rasha, an independent journalist based in Taez, said.

Residents in Taez told The National that Houthi shelling intensified over the mountains surrounding the city but some were launched into the city centre.

“They have been shelling randomly over the residences with more than 25 mortars and RPGs, and it has caused a tremendous amount of fear among the children at school,” Ammar Al Mikhlafi, a resident of Taez, said.

Meanwhile, in Hodeidah a civilian was killed in the district of Hays south of the port city.

Earlier this week, Mohmmed Zaid Ewiadan, 55, was also killed in Hays as he was returning home from delivering goods to residents on a donkey cart, another journalist with the government-aligned Giant Brigade told The National.

“The Houthis kept shelling mortars fired from the city centre over sites controlled by the joint forces in the swathes southern the city,” a resident who wanted to remain anonymous said.

Clashes also broke out in Hodeidah on a major street in the port-city, threatening the ceasefire agreed upon by both sides in Sweden in December.

Residents told The National that the Houthis have reportedly failed to adhere to the ceasefire and continue to reinforce their positions in the city of Hodeidah.

The situation is critical, according to the UN, with more than 14 million Yemenis on the brink of famine. Hodeidah, and access to its port, is a key lifeline to the millions who remain undernourished in the Arab World's poorest country. However, it is also a lifeline to millions who rely on the facility for food imports and supplies.