Yemen: Children hospitalised after Houthi shelling in Taiz

Shelling launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen’s southwest on Saturday evening left at least 11 children wounded.

"The Houthi militia launched a barbaric and brutal bombardment of a densely populated neighbourhood in the centre of the city of Taiz, with several mortar shells," Taiz police said in a statement.

The statement added that all the children were below 10 years of age, with injuries ranging from moderate to severe.

There were no reported deaths in the attack.

في ظل الهدنة وبحضور اللجنة العسكرية للأمم المتحدة: إصابة 11 طفلاً جراء سقوط قذيفة أطلقها #الحوثيون على حي الروضة بمدينة #تعز جنوب غرب #اليمن pic.twitter.com/E9IoWncdOX

— Saeed Thabit Saeed (@saeedthabit) July 23, 2022

The attack was a "horrific crime" and was in violation of a UN truce which has been held for months, the police added.

Families of the children protested the attack, demanding the Houthis be held responsible for their actions in Taiz, which has been under the group’s siege since the Yemen conflict began over seven years ago.

The attack took place as UN envoy Antony Hayward was visiting Taiz and comes as the UN continues to push warring parties to agree on a six-month truce extension as international pressure grows on both sides to end the war.

At the beginning of June, both the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels agreed to extend the humanitarian truce for a further two months, after the initial period elapsed.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed directly or indirectly as a result of the war and millions more displaced, creating what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.