Senior Yemeni general killed in Houthi missile attack: Military source

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.

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.

A tribesman loyal to Houthi rebels, right, chants slogans during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters into battlefronts to fight pro-government forces in several Yemeni cities, in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP File Photo)

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.

Saudi-owned Arabiya TV also reported Yafei’s death.

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