Military and medical sources said Friday that a missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia struck a tribal leader’s home south of the strategic city of Marib killing a child and 13 people.

A government military official said “A Houthi ballistic missile hit the house of Sheikh Abdul Latif al-Qibli in Al-Jawba on Thursday evening during a meeting with tribal leaders fighting on the government’s side.”

“Thirteen people, including a child, were killed,” he said. The death toll was confirmed by a medical source in the area.

Marib, capital of the oil-rich province of the same name, is the internationally recognized government’s last bastion in northern Yemen.

The Iran-backed Houthis began a major push to seize the city in February and, after a lull, they have renewed their offensive in recent weeks.

They claimed this week to have reached the vicinity of Marib city and to have nearly surrounded it.

As well as the child, Thursday evening’s missile strike also killed four tribal leaders, said the military official.

Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said on Twitter that at least 12 people were killed, including two sons of Qibli, whose fate was unknown.

The Houthi “militia continues to systematically and deliberately bombard villages and homes… in order to inflict max casualties among civilians” forcing hundreds of families and displaced to flee, he wrote.

The Arab Coalition backing Yemen’s government has been conducting a fierce air campaign since October 11 to prevent the Houthis from reaching Marib city.

Since then, around 2,000 Houthi fighters have been killed in al-Jawba about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Marib and two other districts, according to the coalition.