ADEN, Yemen, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed on Thursday that it launched a ballistic missile on a military base in the government-controlled province of Lahj.
A Badr-1 ballistic missile hit the Anad airbase in Lahj in southern Yemen, where thousands of Yemeni government soldiers and Sudanese troops are based, the Houthi-run Al Masirah network reported, citing a source from the defense ministry in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa.
But a Yemeni military official told Xinhua by phone that the ballistic missile missed the target and hit a village in a remote area north of the airbase.
He confirmed that four citizens were killed and five others were injured as a result of the Houthi missile attack.
The Anad airbase, which is located 60 kilometers to the north of Aden, is considered as the largest military airbase in Yemen.
In 2014, the U.S. and other foreign countries used the airbase during the war against the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, but recently it is used by the Saudi-led coalition in the anti-Houthi fighting.
Saudi Arabia has been leading a mostly Arab military coalition to fight the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015. The Houthis have controlled much of Yemen's north, including Sanaa, since 2014.
