Yemeni Army close to retaking Marib from Saudi-led forces
Victory appears to be on the horizon in the heated battle for Yemen’s strategic central province of Marib as army troops, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have reportedly taken control of most areas there and dislodged Saudi-led coalition forces and Saudibacked militants from those regions.
A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Arabic Service of Russia’s Sputnik that Yemeni soldiers and their allies had encircled Marib city, following weeks of fierce clashes with Saudi-led coalition forces and their mercenaries, according to Press TV.
The source added that Yemeni forces had cut off the main supply route into the eastern flank of Marib, which leads to the Arab country’s largest province of Hadhramaut.
“After gaining complete control over all the heights overlooking the city of Marib from all directions, mopping up operations to clear the last remaining pockets of Al-qaeda elements and mercenaries of the aggressors (Saudi-led coalition) are only a matter of time,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the governor of Yemen’s southern province of Aden has warned that the Al-qaeda-affiliated Salafist Islah Party is transferring Takfiri militants from southern areas to Marib to join the ranks of Saudi-led coalition forces and Hadi loyalists in battles against Yemeni soldiers and their allies.
“The Islah Party, which is on the verge of collapse in Marib, is brining Takfiri militants from several regions, mostly from southern provinces under the occupation of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), into Marib,” Tariq Salem told Yemen’s official Saba News Agency.
He stressed the need to confront the deployment of such terrorists, who are seeking to carry out target killings and criminal schemes in Marib in the face of the anticipated triumph of Yemeni armed forces and their allies.
“What people in the southern [Yemeni] provinces are enduring is the result of continued [Saudi-uae] occupation and the influx of Takfiri militants. It is highly worth taking into consideration that no Yemeni citizen, either in Marib or elsewhere in the country, must subject their families, their properties as well as public interests to danger,” Salem pointed out.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of ex-president back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement.
According to the United Nations, 80 percent of Yemen’s 30 million people need some form of aid or protection. About 13.5 million Yemenis currently face acute food insecurity, UN data shows.
According to the latest figures released by the UN in December last year, over 230,000 people have been killed since the onset of the Saudi-led war.
Yemeni armed forces and allied popular groups, led by the Houthi Ansarullah movement, have gone from strength to strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and successfully defended Yemen against the aggression, leaving Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
Oil prices jumped by more than $1 on Tuesday, underpinned by optimism over COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and lower output as US supplies were slow to return after a deep freeze in Texas shut in crude production last week.
Shale oil producers in the southern United States could take at least two weeks to restart the more than 2 million barrels per day (mpd) of crude output that shut down because of cold weather, as frozen pipes and power supply interruptions slow their recovery, sources said, Reuters reported.
Brent crude was up $1.10, or 1.7%, at $66.34 a barrel by 0437 GMT, after earlier hitting a high of $66.79. US crude rose 92 cents, or 1.5%, to $62.62 a barrel, having reached a session high of $63. Both benchmarks have risen more than 2% on Tuesday after climbing nearly 4% in the previous session.
“The positive momentum continues in the oil complex, with investors unabashedly predisposed to a bullish view,” said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi in a note.
Goldman Sachs Commodities Research
raised its Brent crude oil price forecasts by $10 for the second and third quarters of 2021, citing lower expected inventories, higher marginal costs to restart upstream activity and speculative inflows.
The Wall Street bank expects Brent prices to reach $70 per barrel in the second quarter from the $60 it predicted previously and $75 in the third quarter from $65 earlier.
Morgan Stanley expects Brent crude prices to climb to $70 per barrel in the third quarter on “signs of a much improved market” including prospects of a pick-up in demand.
“It is hard not to be bullish with oil prices now that the deep freeze disruption practically guarantees the summer pickup in crude demand will erase whatever supply glut is left,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York.
“The global oil demand is looking a lot better now that the Pfizer vaccine shows positive results after one dose, the UK sees the end of the pandemic ‘in sight’, and as hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline after peaking in early January.”
Stockpiles of US crude oil and refined products likely declined last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday, due to the disruption in Texas.