At least 30 soldiers were killed and more than 65 injured on Sunday in an attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on a military base in southern Yemen.
A ballistic missile followed by two explosives-laden drones struck a barracks housing about 50 troops at Al-Anad air base in Lahj province, 70 km north of Aden.
Medics described a chaotic scene as soldiers carried their wounded colleagues to safety, fearing another attack.
Most of the wounded were taken to the nearby Ibn Khaldun hospital, where many were in critical condition with third-degree burns. Graphic video footage from the scene showed several charred bodies on the ground.
One of the survivors, soldier Nasser Saeed said: “We were able to shoot down one drone. Many were killed and wounded.”
Hospital spokesman Mohsen Murshid said all its resources were needed to cope with the wounded. “We have called on the entire staff, surgeons and nurses, to come in,” he said. “We also know that there are still bodies under the rubble.”
The victims belong to the Giants Brigades, part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
Before the attack, residents in the central city of Taiz heard missiles fired from launchers in the Houthi-held eastern suburbs of the city.
Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said Yemenis should unite to fight the Houthis.
“Anyone who can imagine that he will survive the Iran-backed Houthi militia’s death scheme, is deluded, we … must be fully aware of this truth and aim our arrows at this enemy,” he said.