United Nations condemns attack on Yemen camp, says it threatens peace

The United Nations said on Sunday that a missile attack on a government military camp in central Yemen which killed dozens of people could derail a fragile political process that aims to calm the almost five-year-old war.

The attack on Saturday evening hit a mosque in the al-Estiqbal military training camp in Marib, a city held by the internationally-recognized government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, as people gathered for prayer, two medical sources and forces loyal to Hadi said.

The blast was from a ballistic missile launched by Houthi fighters, the army said in a statement. It killed 79 people and wounded 81, it said.

The state news agency, carrying a report on the foreign minister, said more than 100 had been killed.

The attack “confirms without doubt that the Houthis have no desire for peace,” Hadi said in a statement.

The United Nations envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, condemned the incident.

“The hard-earned progress that Yemen has made on de-escalation is very fragile. Such actions can derail this progress”, Griffiths said, urging parties to direct their energies into politics and away from the battlefront.

Yemen has been mired in almost five years of conflict since the Iran-aligned Houthi movement ousted Hadi’s government from power in the capital Sanaa in late 2014, prompting intervention in 2015 by an Arab coalition in a bid to restore his government.