DUBAI: Marib police authorities have uncovered evidence that the Houthi militia are attempting to recruit women and children for bomb attacks and assassinations in the government-controlled northern Yemeni city.

Videos of women confessing to have been recruited by the Houthis, trained on improvised explosive devices, and sent to Marib to plant such bombs were shown by Brig. Yahya Homeid, the Director General of Marib Police, a report from Saba News Agency added.

The targets include a Sports Hall in Marib, which accommodates hundreds of wounded army personnel, ambulances, and civilians and members of the military traveling in vehicles.

Homeid said the women, who come from poor families, were recruited through blackmail, with the Houthis implicating them in honor-damaging acts to get them to do what the militia wants.

Yemeni authorities previously foiled a similar Houthi attempt to deploy female assassins after it uncovered a cell of eight women plotting to military and security officers.