Houthi drone attacks on Yemeni base kills six soldiers

A drone attack on a Yemeni government base by the rebel Houthi movement has reportedly killed at least six soldiers and injured several senior officials.

One video showed a drone exploding above a podium where the officials were watching a military parade. It is not clear if any other drones hit the base.

Sky News Arabia said army chief of staff Gen Abdullah al-Nakhi was hurt.

A Houthi-run TV channel said the rebels had targeted personnel from the Saudi-led coalition backing the government.

Thursday's attack on a military parade at the al-Anad military base wounded at least 20 military personnel, the official said, including Mohammad Saleh Tamah, the head of Yemen's Intelligence Service, Mohammad Jawas, a senior military commander and Ahmed al-Turki, the governor of Lahij province.

The attack comes a day after the UN special envoy to Yemen said the warring parties had largely been adhering to a ceasefire agreed last month around the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, which is crucial to the delivery of aid supplies.

However, Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council that substantial progress was needed before more peace talks could be held on ending the civil war.

Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in early 2015 when the Houthis seized control of much of the west of the country and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.

Since 2017, the rebels have launched several ballistic and drone attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia and forces in the country loyal to the Yemeni government.

Alarmed by the rise of a group they saw as an Iranian proxy, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and seven other Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government. They have received logistical and intelligence support from the US, UK, and France.

At least 6,800 civilians have been killed and 10,700 injured in the fighting, according to the UN. Thousands of more civilians have died from preventable causes, including malnutrition, disease, and poor health.