Saudi state television says ballistic missiles and drones used to attack the training camp in Marib in country’s south.

Iran-aligned Houthi rebels attacked a military training camp in southern Yemen on Saturday, killing sixty military personnel and wounding dozens others, Saudi state television said.

Al Ekhbariya television quoted sources as saying the attack in the city of Marib was carried out with ballistic missiles and drones. 

The attack took place while the soldiers were performing evening prayers in the camp mosque, according to Al Arabiya, a Saudi television station.

The Houthi attack on the military training camp followed an ongoing barrage of assaults by Saudi-backed forces on rebel targets east of the capital, Sanaa. Those attacks killed at least 22 people on both sides, according to officials.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Al-Attab reporting from Sanaa said there has been an increase in violence especially in areas near the capital. 

“There is an escalation in the conflict. Government forces are trying to advance towards the capital, Sanaa.

“A Houthi spokesman said on Friday that they have foiled a major operation by the government to retake the city. The attack could be a pre-emptive strike to prevent any reinforcement and support for the government operation.”Al-Attab said. 

In 2014, the Houthis toppled the government and took over the capital Sanaa and most of the country’s north.The following year, Saudi Arabia led a coalition of Arab states in a military effort to defeat the Houthis and restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is now based in the southern port city of Aden.

The Houthis, who hold Sanaa and most of Yemen’s big urban centres, deny being puppets of Iran and say they are fighting a corrupt system. They did not immediately claim responsibility for Saturday’s attack.

The civil war, now in its fifth year, has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The conflict has left more than 10,000 dead, displaced more than 3 million and pushed the country to the brink of major famine.