Yemeni officials survive an assassination attempt carried out by the Houthis

Yemeni Defense Minister Mohsen al-Daeri, Chief of Staff Brigadier General Saghir bin Aziz, and Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan survived a Houthi drone attack in Taiz province on Saturday, according to a local official who preferred not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media. This comes days after an attack by the Iran-backed group in Marib that killed 10 Yemenis, despite an agreement between Tehran and Riyadh to resume relations.

“The convoy of the defense minister and the governor of Taiz was hit by a Houthi plane during a car bomb march in Kadha area, western Taiz province,” the official said.

“The Houthi shelling caused material damage to the car of the governor of Taiz, and all the convoy members, including the minister of defense, the governor and their escorts, survived,” he said.

“The defense minister and Taiz governor were on their way to the coastal city of Mocha, which is close to the Bab al-Mandab strait,” he said.

“The Houthis also targeted a military police checkpoint in Kadha, killing two soldiers,” he said.

In a statement, Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Muammar al-Eryani condemned “in the strongest terms the attempt by the Houthi terrorist militia to assassinate Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan by targeting his convoy in the Kadha area in the western part of the province with an Iranian-made drone, killing one of his escorts and wounding two others.”

“The targeting of the Houthis, the head of the civilian executive authority in Taiz province, is a cowardly and treacherous terrorist act that proves the criminal nature of this militia, which does not regard the holy month of Ramadan, nor the blood of people,” he said.

“This sinful targeting, which comes in light of the continuous escalation carried out by the Houthi terrorist militia on more than one level, confirms its insistence on blowing up the efforts of truce, restoring the truce and blowing up the situation again,” he added.

“This comes with ongoing efforts by the UN and international and regional actors to achieve a political settlement in Yemen, beginning with the extension of a six-month truce that ended on October 2, and with the Houthis and the government exchanging accusations over responsibility for the failure to renew it.”

The Houthis launched a surprise attack on an area south of the strategic city of Marib, the last recognized authority in northern Yemen, on Tuesday, killing ten Yemeni soldiers, in a development that ends hopes related to the repercussions of the Saudi-Iranian agreement to advance peace in Yemen.

Yemen is in the grip of a war that began after the Houthis took control of the capital Sanaa and several provinces at the end of 2014, with support from forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh was killed in 2017 in clashes with the group’s gunmen when their alliance ended.

“The conflict has intensified since March 2015, when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened to back legitimate government forces against the Iranian-backed Houthi group.”