ADEN, Yemen, July 16 (Xinhua) -- At least three women were killed on Thursday in an indiscriminate shelling launched by the Houthi rebels in the country's southern province of Lahj, a government official told Xinhua.
According to the local government source, who asked to remain anonymous, "shells fired randomly by the Houthi rebels landed on a number of residential houses in Lahj province."
He said that "the shells struck one of the residential houses located in the northern parts of Lahj, killing three women at the scene."
"A number of houses located nearby were partially damaged by the random shelling carried from Houthi sites in the border areas between Lahj and Taiz province," the source said.
Houses and civilians in border areas located between Taiz and Lahj province are frequently targeted with rockets and mortar shells due to the sporadic fighting raging there, according to local sources.
The pro-Houthi forces also keep trying to make ground advances towards the southern provinces including Lahj, where key strategic army camps are located.
The Iran-allied Houthi rebels seized the northern provinces including the capital Sanaa in late 2014, forcing Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile.
An Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in the Yemeni conflict to fight against the Houthis in March 2015, in response to an official request from Hadi to protect Yemen. Enditem
