The United Nations’ Yemen peace envoy was conducting a “cordial meeting” Monday at the presidential palace in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, when an explosion shook the room, killing and injuring dozens, according to a ministry of foreign affairs statement.
Saudi Arabia’s state-run news agency, SPA, quoted unnamed officials as saying Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile at the palace. It said at least 29 Yemeni civilians were killed and another 53 were injured in the attack, which caused casualties on the same day that U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths was in the Yemeni capital.
Yemen has seen a deadly civil war between forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and Houthi rebels aligned with Iran since 2015.
United Nations officials have said that nearly 14,000 Yemenis have been killed since the civil war began in 2015, with millions facing acute food shortages. More than 2.5 million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, and cholera has spread in the impoverished country.
Fox News’ Stephen Calabria and the Associated Press contributed to this report.