国际英语新闻:UN envoy to Yemen condemns Houthi missile attack on Marib's military camp

SANAA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths on Sunday condemned a missile attack on a government military camp in the Yemeni northeastern province of Marib.

"Progress that Yemen has made on de-escalation is very fragile. Such actions can derail this progress," Griffiths warned in a statement.

"The negotiation tables are more effective than battlefields in resolving the conflict," said the statement.

The attack on Al-Estiqbal military camp in Marib on Saturday evening killed at least 80 soldiers and injured 150 others, according to the government officials.

Marib, Yemen's oil-rich province, east of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, is controlled by the forces of the internationally-recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which have been battling the Houthi rebels since late 2014.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi asked the army to be on high alert following the attack which he blamed it on the Houthi rebels, according to a statement carried by the state SABA news agency.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 after the Houthi group stormed much of the country's north and forced Hadi's government out of the capital Sanaa.

The United Nations has been trying to end the war that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the country to the brink of famine.