Houthi hit wedding hall, killing 5 women‏

Five women were killed in Yemen when a projectile exploded at a wedding held on New Year’s Day in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, officials said Saturday.

The government blamed Houthi militia for the Friday night bombing of the hall near Hodeida’s airport, a frontline between the warring sides on the edge of the Houthi-held town.

It came just two days after at least 26 people were killed in blasts that rocked the airport of the southern city of Aden as government ministers got off a plane.

Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Al-Aryani said the Houthis were responsible for the attack.

“These criminal acts committed by the Houthi militants confirm their approach, which is based on violence, killing, bloodshed and indifference to civilian lives,” he said.

Wadah Al-Dubaish, a spokesman for the government’s Joint Forces said residents had seen Houthis firing two Katyusha rockets from areas under their control in the city center.

Mortar and missile fire and landmines laid by the Houthis have killed dozens of civilians and injured many others in Hodeidah during the last couple of months.

In December, a missile strike by the Houthis killed 10 workers in an industrial complex in a government-controlled part of the city.