Yemen's internationally recognised government forces and the Houthi movement are trading blame for an attack on the al Hadara market in Taiz governorate that both sides say killed and wounded dozens of civilians.

A government military spokesman said Houthi fighters struck the market on Friday with ballistic missiles and called the toll a war crime. Houthi authorities in Sanaa countered that Saudi led aircraft flew three raids on the market, killing at least 30 people and injuring eight, and demanded an independent international inquiry. The competing claims could not be independently verified and there was no immediate public response from the Saudi led coalition.

The market sits in the al Waziiya district, an area held by the Houthis where fighting has been fierce. Local reporting said the Saudi backed campaign is pushing daily to take the district and its mountain range because whoever holds it commands much of the western Red Sea coastal strip.

Government forces said they recaptured several pockets in Taiz on Friday, including villages and stretches of the Sanamat and Ribat al Qarn areas, and tightened sieges on approaches to al Sarari. While the Houthis control much of the wider governorate, Taiz city remains in government hands. A Houthi siege of the city is in its 30th day and the United Nations has warned of a deepening crisis as food and medicine grow scarce for hundreds of thousands of residents.

The recognised government launched Operation Dawn of Yemen on 5 October to claw back Houthi held ground. Since then Houthi missiles and drones have struck Saudi territory almost daily, hitting oil facilities and disrupting air traffic even as coalition and government units press the western front.