Illustrative image, source: the Houthis media wing
On July 4, seven Saudi-backed Yemeni fighters were killed and nearly 20 others were injured when a mosque they were praying at was struck by an unidentified munition.
The mosque, which sustained heavy damage as a result of the strike, is located in a camp of the 5th Infantry Brigade, a unit of the pro-Saudi wing of the Yemeni Armed Forces, in the southern province of Abyan.
While some sources said that the mosque was struck by a precision-guided rocket, others said the strike was carried out with a suicide drone.
#ابين
انفجار كبير في مسجد اللواء الخامس أبين مودية pic.twitter.com/2v7nCCMtqs— بنت اليمن (@xRo8LlegLZhC2jt) July 4, 2021
3 شهداء وأكثر من 25 جريح حتى الآن جراء استهداف مسجد معسكر تدريبي تابع للحرس الرئاسي في مديرية مودية بمحافظة أبين . pic.twitter.com/quYrHy1Zja
— ماجد عمير الحارثي (@majed_omair) July 4, 2021
Yemeni sources and news outlet affiliated with the Saudi-led coalition blamed the Houthis (Ansar Allah) for the deadly strike.
The Houthis has not commented on the strike, so far. In the last few weeks, the Yemeni group attacked several camps of the Saudi-led coalition and its proxies:
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On June 22, ten suicide drones targeted the Saudi-led coalition’s al-Wadi’a military camp on the Yemeni-Saudi border;
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On June 28, five ballistic missiles and five suicide targeted a training camp of the Saudi-led coalition and other military targets in southern Saudi Arabia;
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On June 29, two ballistic missiles targeted two military camps of the Saudi-led coalition in the central Yemeni province of Ma’rib.
Saudi-led coalition camps in Yemen are under protected. Typically, hundreds of Yemeni fighters are amassed in these camps for training before embarking on defensive and offensive operations. These factors make the coalition’s camps a perfect target for the Houthis.
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