Yemen's deputy chief of staff was killed on Wednesday when the armed Houthi movement battling government forces fired a ballistic missile at an army camp on the Red Sea coast, according to a military source. The attack killing Major General Ahmed Saif al-Yafei was a blow to Yemeni government forces and hit outside the strategic coastal city of al-Mokha, which they captured from the Iran-allied Houthis last month.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters. </s> Yemen's deputy chief of staff was killed on Wednesday when the armed Houthi movement battling government forces fired a ballistic missile at an army camp on the Red Sea coast, according to a military source.

The attack killing Major General Ahmed Saif al-Yafei was a blow to Yemeni government forces and hit outside the strategic coastal city of al-Mokha, which they captured from the Iran-allied Houthis last month.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war nearly two years ago to back President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after he was ousted from the capital Sanaa by Houthi forces.

"Major General Ahmed Saif al-Yafei was killed along with several others when the missile hit the camp near al-Mokha city early this morning," the military source, who is also a member of the general's family, told Reuters.

Al-Mokha lies close to the Bab al-Mandab strait through which much of the world's oil passes. </s> ADEN: A senior Yemeni general was killed on Wednesday when Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile at an army camp in southern Yemen, according to a military source.

"Major General Ahmed Saif al-Yafei, deputy chief of general staff, was killed along with several others when the missile hit the camp near al-Mokha city early this morning," the source, a member of the general's family who declined to be named, told Reuters.

The Red Sea port of Al-Mokha, close to the Bab al-Mandab shipping lane through which much of the world's oil passes, has been the scene of heavy fighting between the Iran-allied Houthis and Gulf-backed Yemeni forces fighting on behalf of president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. </s> Aden: Yemen’s deputy chief of staff was killed yesterday when Al Houthi militia battling government forces fired a ballistic missile at an army camp on the Red Sea coast, according to a military source.

Army deputy chief of staff Major General Ahmad Saif Al Yafii was killed by a heat-seeking missile on the outskirts of the strategic coastal town of Mocha, the source told AFP.

“Major General Ahmad Saif Al Yafei was killed along with several others when the missile hit the camp near Al [Mocha] city early this morning,” a military source, who is also a member of the general’s family, told Reuters.

Yemeni government forces captured Mocha from the Iran-allied Al Houthis last month.It was their biggest success in months. The town lies close to the Bab Al Mandab strait.

The rebels still hold the capital, Sana’a, and much of the central and northern highlands as well as the coast around Hodeida.

Before the 19th Century, Mocha was Yemen’s main port and export hub for coffee grown in the highlands, and its historical symbolism meant it was fiercely fought over.

Its role was overtaken by Hodeida and second city, Aden, where the government is based.

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) humanitarian coordinator in the country warned on Tuesday that seven million Yemenis are closer than ever to starvation.

“Seven million Yemenis do not know where their next meal will come from and are ever closer to starvation” in the country of 27 million people, Jamie McGoldrick said.

“Over 17 million people are currently unable to adequately feed themselves and are frequently forced to skip meals — women and girls eat the least and last,” he said in a statement.

Yemen’s war pits the internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi against Al Houthi rebels allied with forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, intervened in Yemen’s civil war nearly two years ago to back President Hadi after he was ousted from the capital, Sana’a, by Houthi forces.

The fighting has intensified since the coalition intervened in March 2015.

Since early January, pro-government forces have pressed a major offensive aimed at recapturing Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, and retook the southwestern port of Mocha earlier this month.

“I am deeply concerned with the escalation of conflict and militarisation of Yemen’s western coast.

“It is coming at a great cost to civilians,” McGoldrick said.

Unexploded rockets have landed inside the rebel-held port of Hodeida, he said, “reducing even further the number of ships and imports” vital for Yemen’s food supplies.

“Given that the country is 80-90 per cent dependent on imported food staples, I am compelled to raise the alarm,” the UN official said.

“If left unabated, these factors combined could accelerate the onset of famine.”

Also on Tuesday, the United Nations children’s agency warned that 462,000 children were suffering from acute malnutrition.

The UN aid chief warned last month that the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country was sliding deeper into humanitarian crisis and could face famine this year.

Stephen O’Brien said that without “immediate action”, famine was “a possible scenario for 2017.”

More than 7,400 people have been killed since the intervention began nearly two years ago, including around 1,400 children, according to the United Nations. </s> ADEN (Reuters) - The second-in-command of the Yemeni army was killed on Wednesday when a missile fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement hit an army camp, a military source said, the most senior Yemeni officer killed in the country’s civil war.

Major General Ahmed Saif al-Yafei was killed outside the strategic Red Sea coastal city of al-Mokha, which the army captured from the Houthis last month. Several other military personnel, including a colonel, also died in the attack, according to the online Arabic-language Aden al-Ghad newspaper.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s internationally-recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, has been trying to re-take the country from the Houthis for nearly two years. The war has killed more than 10,000 people.

“(Yafei) was killed along with several others when the missile hit the camp near al-Mokha city early this morning,” the military source, who is also a member of the general’s family, told Reuters.

Hadi’s presidential office said in a statement carried by the government-run news agency that Yafei died “while carrying out his heroic role of liberating the remainder of the al-Mokha district” from the Houthis. It gave no further details.

The Houthi-run news agency said its fighters targeted a vehicle in which Yafei was traveling on the outskirts of al-Mokha.

Aden al-Ghad said that the bodies of several officers who died in the attack along with Yafei have arrived at a hospital in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, where Hadi’s government is based.

It identified one of them as a colonel and said several of Yafei’s bodyguards were also among the dead.

Hadi supporters, backed by Gulf Arab troops, captured al-Mokha last month after weeks of heavy fighting around the small but strategic port city that had once served as a main port for exporting coffee.

Al-Mokha lies close to the Bab al-Mandab strait through which much of the world’s oil passes.

In a separate incident, a Saudi police corporal was killed by shells fired by the Houthis on the town of Dhahran al-Janoub in southern Saudi Arabia, the local civil defense department said on its Twitter account. An expatriate man was also injured in the attack, it said.

The Houthis have regularly fired rockets towards Saudi cities and villages over the past two years. The Houthis say their attacks are in response to Saudi strikes on Yemeni cities and villages. </s> Alwaght- Ansarullah Movement fighters fired on Wednesday a ballistic missile at Saudi mercenaries' camp in southern Yemen where.

"Major General Ahmed Saif al-Yafei, deputy chief of general staff, was killed along with several others when the missile hit the camp near al-Mokha city early this morning," Reuters reported.

Formerly the 4th Region commander of the Hadi loyalists' death is a deep blow to the Saudi-backed militants.

Forces loyal to Mansur Hadi, Who resigned as Yemen President and fled to Saudi Capital, launched an offensive on January 2017 on Al-Mokha city where was controlled by Yemeni resistant movement.

The strategic Red Sea port of Al-Mokha, located close to the Bab al-Mandab, is shipping lane through which much of the world's oil passes.

Saudi Arabia launched a bloody aggression against neighboring Yemen on 26 March, 2015 with aime of restore power to fugitive Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia as well as to undermine Ansarullah movement which Riyadh considers as a threat to its interests.

Over 11,500 Yemenis have been killed in the almost 2-year aggression, with the vast majority of them being civilians including women and children. </s> SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The deputy chief of staff of Yemen’s military has been killed by a rocket fired by Houthi rebels that struck his vehicle in the Red Sea port of Mokha.

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Abdu Dagher expressed condolences on Twitter after Brig. Gen. Ahmed Seif al-Yafie was killed Wednesday, saying the “end of the enemy is near.”

The SABA news agency, which is controlled by the Houthis, said the rebels had deliberated attacked the general’s vehicle.

Al-Yafie was loyal to the internationally recognized government, which has been battling the rebels and allied army units since 2015. A Saudi-led coalition launched an air and ground campaign in support of the government that year, but the rebels are still in control of the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen. </s> The Houthi militia in Yemen said it launched missile and drone attacks on Thursday on a military parade in Aden killing several people, including a commander.

A Reuters witness saw nine bodies on the ground after an explosion hit a military camp belonging to Yemeni forces.

A government military source said a commander was among those killed.

“The blast occurred behind the stand where the ceremony was taking place at Al Jalaa military camp in Buraiqa district in Aden,” the witness said. “A group of soldiers were crying over a body believed to be of the commander.”

The Houthi’s official channel Al Masirah TV said the group had launched a medium-range ballistic missile and an armed drone at the parade, which it described as being staged in preparation for a military move against provinces held by the Houthis.

The parade “was being used to prepare for an advance on Taiz and Dalea”, Masirah cited a Houthi military spokesman as saying.

In a separate attack in another district of Aden on Thursday, an explosives-laden car blew up at a police station killing three soldiers, a security source said.

It was not clear if the incidents were related. Previous car attacks in Yemen have been carried out by extremist militant groups like Al Qaeda. </s> At least 32 people have been killed in an attack on a military parade in the Yemeni port city of Aden, security and medical sources say.

The attack in Aden, the seat of the Saudi-backed government, was earlier claimed by Yemen's Houthi group.

The group said it launched missile and drone attacks on the parade, killing several people including a commander.

A Reuters witness saw nine bodies on the ground after an explosion hit a military camp belonging to Yemeni forces backed by the United Arab Emirates, which is a member of the Saudi-led military coalition battling the Houthis.

A pro-government military source said a commander was among those killed.

"The blast occurred behind the stand where the ceremony was taking place at Al Jalaa military camp in Buraiqa district in Aden," the witness said. "A group of soldiers were crying over a body believed to be of the commander."

The Houthi's official channel Al Masirah TV said the group had launched a medium-range ballistic missile and an armed drone at the parade, which it described as being staged in preparation for a military move against provinces held by the movement.

The parade "was being used to prepare for an advance on Taiz and Dalea", Masirah cited a Houthi military spokesman as saying.

In a separate attack in another district of Aden on Thursday, an explosives-laden car blew up at a police station killing three soldiers, a security source said.

It was not clear if the incidents were related. Previous car attacks in Yemen have been carried out by Islamist militant groups like al-Qaeda.

The Sunni Muslim coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government ousted from power in the capital Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014. </s> Houthi rebels used an explosive-packed drone to target Yemen’s military leaders at an army parade on Thursday, killing six soldiers and wounding several senior officers.

The Iranian-backed rebels detonated the drone above a ceremonial dais, spraying Yemeni officers with shrapnel and causing the ceremony to dissolve into chaos.

The attack showed a surprising level of sophistication for the Houthi rebels and is likely to further undermine UN efforts to broker a peace deal to end the Yemen’s brutal four-year war.

Video of the attack showed the drone screeching down from the cloudy sky and exploding a few metres above the dais where Yemeni officers were watching the military parade. Six soldiers were killed in the blast.

Ahmed al-Turki, governor of Lahj province, was wounded in the attack along with several senior military and intelligence officers. General Abdullah al-Nakhi, the army chief of staff, was at the parade but appears to have escaped unarmed.
A Houthi missile attack on a Yemeni military camp near the port city of Mocha kills Major General Ahmed Saif al-Yafei, Yemen's deputy chief of staff, and several others.