Up to five civilians have died in an explosion in a residential area in the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, according to the United Nations Mission to Maintain the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA).
“Last night, an explosion occurred in a residential area in the al-Hawak district of Hodeidah, which reportedly killed up to five civilians and injured three more”, – the mission said on Twitter.
The parties to the conflict in Yemen blamed each other for what happened. The Yemeni authorities blamed the Ansar Allah (Houthis) rebels, claiming that they had fired on them. In turn, the Houthis claim that civilians were killed in shelling by the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
In Yemen, active hostilities have continued since August 2014 between government forces on the side of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels who control northern Yemen. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been fighting on the side of Hadi since March 2015. The Houthis regularly bombard Yemen’s neighboring Saudi areas, calling it a response to the pro-Saudi coalition’s bombing of northern Yemen and the blockade of the country’s north by coalition and government forces.