Eight Education Ministry officials loyal to the Houthis were killed and injured by a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in Al-Jawf governorate on Monday while attending a military training on the front lines, according to an official in the Sixth Military Region, a source in the education ministry’s office in Raymah and a Houthi memorandum documenting the airstrike.  

Most of the educators were from Raymah governorate, where they had recruited hundreds of people for the training. 

Four school principals and education officials were killed and four others were injured in the airstrike. 

Among the injured was the director of the Education Ministry office in Raymah, Hamid Qasim Saleh Al-Taw’ari, who is from the town of Khawlan Al-Teyyal in Sana’a governorate, the sources said.

Al-Taw’ari was arrested in January 2013 in connection with the assassination of Saudi military attaché Khaled Al-Enizi and his Yemeni driver Jalal Shaiban. Al-Enizi and Shaiban were killed the preceding November while on their way to the Saudi Embassy in Sana’a.

After being detained and questioned about the assassination, Al-Taw’ari was released from a National Security Bureau prison in Sana’a on April 7, 2013. At the time, officials suspected Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) of the attack. 

Houthi teachers and educators in Raymah have carried out a months-long campaign to recruit students to fight for the rebels.

Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV reported Tuesday that coalition airstrikes targeted Al-Maraziq and Al-Mahashima areas of Khabb Wa Al-Sha’af district in Al-Jawf. 

The Saudi-led coalition has intensified its air strikes in Marib and Al-Jawf governorates in recent months, as the Houthis attempt to control the area.  

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Editing by Ahlam Mohsen and Casey Coombs