At least 70 soldiers were killed in a ballistic missile attack in Yemen’s Marib province, according to the government source on Sunday.
Dozens of soldiers are in critical condition from the attack that took place late on Saturday near a mosque in al-Estikbal military base, the source further said.
Yemeni government officials have blamed the Iran-allied Houthi rebels for the attack, but the Houthis have not claimed responsibility.
Hours after the Marib attack, the Saudi-led coalition, which backs the Yemeni government forces, launched a series of airstrikes on a Houthi-controlled military base in the southeast of the group-held capital Sanaa, with no casualties reported, according to the residents.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government — backed by a Saudi-led military coalition — has been battling the Iran-backed Huthis since 2014 when the rebels seized the northern capital of Sanaa.
Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi condemned the “cowardly and terrorist” attack, according to the official Saba news agency. The report did not give a death toll.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced since 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in the conflict to back the government against the Huthi rebels.
The conflict, which the United Nations says has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, has pushed the country to the brink of famine.
In 2018, Saudi air force intercepted a missile shot by Houthi militia from Yemen towards border city Jazan.
Yemenis have been suffering from clashes between armed groups, airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition and devastating living condition of scarcity of food and medical supply.
(With inputs from agency)