At least eight people were killed in explosions that shook the Yemeni city of Marib in what the information minister said were missile and drone strikes launched by Houthi forces trying to seize the gas-rich region.
Minister Muammar al-Iryani wrote in a Twitter post that the Houthis fired two ballistic missiles and two armed drones and had hit a mosque, a commercial center and a women's correctional facility as well as ambulances rushing to the scene.
He put the initial death toll at eight, including women, and said 27 people had been wounded. Two medical sources told Reuters the hospital received five killed and more than 15 injured.
There was no confirmation from the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which has launched an offensive to take the internationally recognized government's last stronghold in the north of the Arabian Peninsula country.
An army spokesperson earlier told Al Hadath television that the missiles hit a residential area and a commercial market. He said the Houthis launched two drones but that one was downed and the other exploded in mid-air.
"These are the strongest explosions we have heard in Marib in four years" resident Abdulsalam Ghaleb told Reuters.