At least 30 people were killed and eight others wounded on Friday when an attack struck the crowded Al-Hadarah public market in the Al-Waziyah district of Taiz province, in southwestern Yemen, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians since fighting resumed between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces.
Houthi-run al-Masirah television reported that three strikes hit the market in the morning, when it was crowded with shoppers. The Houthi-run health ministry said rescue teams were still searching through the rubble for bodies, and warned that the casualty toll remained preliminary. An earlier Houthi figure put the dead at 20, before the toll was revised upwards to 30 killed and eight wounded as the rescue effort continued.
The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack. Their health ministry spokesman, Anis al-Asbahi, said Saudi aircraft had targeted the market with several strikes, while Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the aircraft had taken off from the Saudi base at Khamis Mushait on Friday morning. The Houthis said the market lay in an area under their control in Taiz province, the scene of fierce fighting since the Iran-backed group launched a major offensive in September.
Yemen's government forces rejected that account outright. Military spokesman Majed Al-Nuzaili said the Houthis themselves had fired a ballistic missile at Al-Hadara market, describing the attack as a war crime and calling for those responsible for planning and carrying it out to be held accountable. Local authorities in Taiz said no military aircraft had carried out strikes in Waziyah on Friday, and called for an independent examination of evidence from the scene.
Al-Nuzaili urged the international community to take stronger action against the Houthis by cutting off their funding and weapons supplies, and said the attack would only strengthen the army's determination to continue its Operation Dawn of Yemen, which he said was aimed at combating the Houthis and protecting civilians, regional security and international shipping routes.
The attack comes amid intensified fighting between the Houthis and forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognised government, particularly in Taiz, where renewed hostilities have worsened an already severe humanitarian crisis. The Houthis have tightened their siege of Taiz city, cutting off major supply routes and severely disrupting deliveries of food, fuel, water and medical supplies.
The United Nations World Food Programme warned last month that escalating fighting had cut off more than 800,000 people from food assistance, while shortages of fuel and medical supplies threatened hospitals and other essential services. The UN also warned that the city's health system was close to collapse, with shortages of oxygen and fuel putting hundreds of patients at risk.
The market attack was not the only incident on Friday. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired towards Najran, and a drone in the region of Makkah. The violence unfolded against a wider backdrop of escalation across the Gulf, including fresh American strikes on Iranian air defences near the Strait of Hormuz and an attack on a tanker in the Gulf that killed a seafarer.
Responsibility for the market attack remains disputed, and neither account has yet been independently verified. The casualty figures come from the Houthi-run health ministry, and the conflicting claims reflect a familiar pattern in Yemen's war, in which both sides have blamed each other for strikes on civilian areas while independent access to frontline districts remains extremely limited.
Rescue teams were continuing to search the wreckage of the market on Friday, and local authorities have pressed for an independent investigation into what happened. With fighting around Taiz showing no sign of easing and the humanitarian situation in the province deteriorating, aid agencies fear further civilian casualties unless the warring parties pull back from populated areas.
