According to military and medical officials, a kid was among 13 people killed when a missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia attacked a tribal leader's home south of the vital city of Marib.
"During a meeting with tribal leaders fighting on the government's side on Thursday evening, a Houthi ballistic missile hit Sheikh Abdul Latif al-house Qibli's in Al-Jawba," a government military officer claimed.
"Thirteen people were killed, including a child," he stated. A medical source in the area confirmed the death toll.
Marib, the capital of the same-named oil-rich province, is the internationally recognized government's final stronghold in northern Yemen.
The Houthis, who Iran backs, launched a major assault on the city in February and, after a brief pause, have resumed their assault in recent weeks.
They claimed this week that they had reached Marib city's environs and had practically encircled it.
According to the military officer, the missile hit killed four tribal chiefs in addition to the youngster.
Moammar al-Eryani, Yemen's Information Minister, reported on Twitter that at least 12 people had been slain, including two sons of Qibli whose fate remained unknown.
According to him, the Houthi militia "continues to systematically and deliberately bombard villages and homes... in order to inflict maximum civilian casualties," pushing hundreds of families and displaced people to escape.
Since October 11, the Arab Coalition backing Yemen's government has been waging a ferocious air campaign to keep the Houthis from reaching Marib city.
According to the coalition, over 2,000 Houthi rebels have been killed since then in al-Jawba, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Marib and two other districts.
The Houthis seldom speak on casualties, and AFP was unable to verify the number of deaths independently.
According to the military officer, the al-Jawba district has been engulfed in a fierce battle in recent days.
Yemen's civil conflict began in 2014, when the Houthis took control of Sanaa's capital, 120 kilometers west of Marib, forcing Arab forces to enter the following year to prop up the government.
In what the UN considers the world's worst humanitarian disaster, tens of thousands of people have perished, and millions have been displaced.
Marib city had 20,000 to 30,000 people before the conflict, but it swelled to hundreds of thousands when Yemenis evacuated frontline towns in search of safety.
However, with 139 refugee camps in the province, according to the government, housing over 2.2 million people, many displaced civilians have once again found themselves in the line of fire.
According to the UN's migration agency, the International Organization for Migration, tens of thousands of people have been displaced in the province this year, including nearly 10,000 in September alone.
