Houthi missile hits crowded market in Yemen's Marib

The missile hit one of the popular markets in a highly-populated area, the agency added.

The Houthis did not immediately issue an official comment.

The city of Marib is controlled by the internationally-recognised government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The attack comes just after Colonel Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Arab coalition accused the Houthis of being behind an attack on a Turkish cargo loaded with wheat off the port of Hodeidah last week.

In a statement made yesterday evening, Maliki said that security investigations revealed that the ship hit in Hodeidah was by a missile attack by the Houthis. No suspicious materials were found aboard the cargo loaded with wheat.

In recent months the Iran-backed Houthi group has fired a series of missiles at the kingdom, part of a three-year conflict in Yemen widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The Houthis have become increasingly daring in their attacks on Saudi Arabia, including attempted strikes on the capital Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia has previously responded to missile attacks with devastating airstrikes.

Since March 2015, Riyadh has led a coalition of Arab states fighting to roll back the Houthis in Yemen and restore its neighbour's internationally-recognised government to power.

Nearly 10,000 people have since been killed in the conflict, in what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.