Pregnant Woman and Unborn Child Killed in Houthi Shelling in Taiz

A pregnant woman and her unborn child were killed on Saturday following a Houthi mortar attack on residential homes in the Naqil al-Haddah area of the Al-Shaqab district, located in the Sabr Al-Mawadim region of southeastern Taiz, Yemen.

The Taiz Human Rights Center (THRC) identified the victim as 32-year-old Maliya Abduljalil Mahyoub Ali, who was eight months pregnant at the time of the attack. According to the center, the victim sustained fatal injuries after shrapnel from a Houthi-fired mortar shell struck her body.

Medical reports confirmed that the shrapnel penetrated the victim’s back and exited through her abdomen, resulting in the immediate death of both the woman and her fetus. The THRC characterized the incident as a grave violation of international humanitarian law and the established protections for civilians in conflict zones.

The center strongly condemned the persistent Houthi targeting of civilian neighborhoods in Taiz. Furthermore, the organization issued an urgent appeal to the international community and humanitarian agencies to formally denounce the attack and all ongoing violations against civilians, emphasizing the necessity of ensuring accountability and ending impunity for the perpetrators.