65 killed in Al Houthi push towards Marib

First major offensive on Marib since June comes days before new UN envoy’s arrival

Sixty-five combatants were killed after Yemen’s Al Houthi militants launched a renewed offensive on Marib, a government stronghold in the country’s oil-rich north, a military official said yesterday.

The Iran-backed militants attacked pro-government positions south of the strategic city, making progress despite losing dozens of fighters in coalition air strikes. It was the Al Houthis’ first major offensive on Marib, the key to controlling the region, since June, when 111 fighters on both sides died in three days of clashes.

22 government troops killed

“Twenty-two pro-government [forces] were killed and 50 others were wounded, while 43 Al Houthis were also killed in the last 48 hours,” a government military official told AFP.

The figures were confirmed by other military and medical sources. The resurgence in fighting comes after strikes on Yemen’s largest airbase, in the country’s south, killed at least 30 pro-government fighters last Sunday in the deadliest incident since December.

It also comes just days before the United Nations’ new special envoy for Yemen, Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg, takes up his duties. In June, the former UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council that his efforts over the past three years to end the war had been “in vain”.

In February, the Al Houthis escalated their efforts to take Marib. Control of the oil-rich north would strengthen the Al Houthis’ bargaining position in peace talks. The Al Houthis have also stepped up drone and missile strikes on Saudi targets.