Missile attack kills 9 at military parade in Yemen's south

Sanaa: A ballistic missile attack ripped through a military parade for a Yemeni southern separatist group that's backed by the United Arab Emirates, killing at least six troops and three children, a spokesman said Sunday.

The explosion took place while the separatists, known as the Resistance Forces, were wrapping up a parade for new recruits at a soccer field in the capital of Dhale province, said Maged al-Shoebi, a spokesman for the group, by phone to The Associated Press.

The southern separatists are allied with the Saudi-led coalition that's been fighting Yemen's Houthi rebels. But the UAE-backed southerners are currently at odds with Yemen's internationally recognized government, which is more closely allied with Saudi Arabia.

Cracks within the anti-Houthi bloc have widened over the past several months.

Footage circulated online of Sunday's attack showed a hole in a stage at the edge of the field, apparently from an explosion, while other footage showed dead bodies on the ground.