Several killed in attack targeting military parade in southern Yemen
Several people have been killed in southern Yemen after an attack on a military parade for graduating soldiers.
Yemen's Security Belt forces said in a tweet on Sunday that at least five people were killed when a Houthi missile targeted a platform used during the parade.
The Security Belt forces are a part of a southern separatist front, and are backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their fight against the Iran-aligned Houthis.
According to pictures circulating on social media, several bodies were recovered from the blast site, with photos purporting to show a huge crater near the main platform.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Houthi movement.
In August, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile and drone attack on a parade in Aden, the seat of the internationally-recognised government, that killed around 36 people, including a prominent commander.
The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of Sanaa by Houthi rebels, who now control much of the country's north.
The UAE entered Yemen's war in March 2015 as part of a Saudi-led coalition aimed at propping up the beleaguered government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
However, the UAE, which recently withdrew its troops from Yemen, has been accused of arming and training an estimated 90,000 fighters in the Security Belt to serve as its proxy in the country.
According to several human rights groups, the Security Belt operates a clandestine network of prisons across Yemen's south where hundreds of people have been held in inhumane conditions.
Yemen's long-running war has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 24.1 million - more than two-thirds of the population - in need of aid.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED), an American NGO, has reported that more than 100,000 people have died as a result of the war.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
