At least 79 Yemeni soldiers were killed and 130 others were injured in an attack by suspected Houthi rebels at a mosque at a military camp in the province of Marib on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's state-run al-Ekhbariya Television reported on Sunday.

The attack on the camp, which is located about 170km east of the capital, Sanaa, happened as soldiers attended prayers at the mosque.

The Yemeni Defence ministry claimed that the attack was to avenge the killing of the late Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was killed in an US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 3 prompting fears of possible retaliation by Iran, which supports the Houthi group.

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi condemned the attack labeling it a "cowardly terrorist operation" which he also blamed on the Houthis.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the ministry did not produce any evidence to substantiate its claim.

Last year in August, 32 people were killed in an attack in which Houthi rebels launched a missile on a Yemeni government forces military parade in the port city of Aden.

Yemen has been devastated by a conflict which worsened in March 2015, when Houthi rebels seized control of large parts of the west of the country forcing President Hadi to flee abroad. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.

Source(s): CNN, BBC