A ballistic missile fired at a military parade in Yemen on Sunday killed up to nine people and injured dozens more, security officials said.

The military ceremony took place in a football field in the town of Ad-Dali, the capital of Dhale province in southwestern Yemen.

More than 20 people were wounded in the blast, including civilians. Three of the nine people killed were believed to be children.

The southern separatist group, known as the Security Belt Forces, was about to finish a parade for its new military recruits when a rocket ripped through the crowd, a spokesman for the group, Maged al-Shoebi, told The Associated Press.

The Security Belt Forces are backed by the United Arab Emirates, an important ally in a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting Iran-backed Houthis, Yemen's prominent rebel group.

The Security Belt Forces are currently at odds with Yemen's internationally recognized government, which has the support of Saudi Arabia.

While both Saudi-backed fighters and the Security Belt Forces are fighting Houthi rebels, divisions among the group have widened over the past several months between southern separatist and unionist factions.

Colonel Majed al-Shuaibi, chief of Yemen's military media center, blamed Houthi rebels for Sunday's attack. Houthi forces have been trying to seize Dhale province from the southern separatists for years but without success.

So far, there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.

Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Fighting keeps food from the famished The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.

Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Displacement: Converging crises More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.

Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Cholera: A deadly epidemic The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.

Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror' In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.

Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.

Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Peace: An elusive future Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive. Author: Lewis Sanders IV



Read more: Yemen's Houthi rebels: Who are they and what do they want?

Yemen conflict

The 2014 takeover of Sanaa by Houthi rebel forces has since left the country in chaos. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's government was forced out of the capital. Members of the government first escaped to the south of the country and ultimately to Saudi Arabia, which entered the conflict in 2015.

Yemen, on the brink of famine, is the poorest country in the Arab world. Over 100,000 people have been killed in the war and millions are left suffering food and medical shortages.

Watch video 02:48 Share After 5 years of war, Yemenis on the brink Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3NWFf After 5 years of war, Yemenis are on the brink

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