Yemen's Warring Sides Trade Accusations Over Killing Five Civilians in Taiz

 Five civilians were killed in a shelling in Taiz province, southwest of Yemen.

The shelling targeted a water well in Maqbna district of Taiz, killing three women and two girls, according to local sources. The parties to the conflict in Yemen, the government and the Houthi group traded the accusations. Military sources from the Yemeni government said the Houthi group launched an attack with artillery shells and machine guns on villages in Maqbna as well as military sites. However, Houthi authorities said the five civilians were killed in a drone attack by government forces.

The demining Project Masam warned against the danger of mines being swept away by floods during the rainy season in Yemen. It said in a statement today, "The migratory mines represent an additional threat to civilians amid the ongoing war in Yemen. For many centuries, Yemenis have been waiting for the rainy season … as it is the season of fertility and agriculture, but now the floods are sweeping away everything, including land mines and other remnants of war."The statement called on all farmers and shepherds in valleys, farms, and deserts, especially in areas contaminated with mines, to be careful when dealing with all suspected objects that torrential rains have swept away into their areas. The parties to the conflict in Yemen have planted thousands of landmines since the war broke out in 2015.

Four Yemeni workers were killed in a drone attack on an Emirati-owned gas complex in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan region on Friday, local authorities said. The Khor Mor complex, owned by the United Arab Emirates firm Dana Gas, has been hit several times in recent years, but Friday's drone strike was the first deadly attack. "Four Yemeni workers were killed and the field was severely damaged," Kurdistan regional government spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said.  Iraqi security forces said they formed an investigative committee to probe the attack, vowing that the "aggressors" will be punished. A drone hit the site at approximately 6:45 pm local time (1545 GMT), said Ramak Ramadan, district chief of Chamchamal, where the Khor Mor complex is located. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Hamas said it had received on Saturday Israel's official response to its latest ceasefire proposal and will study it before submitting its reply, the group's deputy Gaza chief said in a statement. "Hamas has received today the official response of the Zionist occupation to the proposal presented to the Egyptian and the Qatari mediators on April 13," Khalil Al-Hayya, who is currently based in Qatar, said in a statement published by the group.