Cape Argus

70 dead as battle for Yemen’s Marib rages on 3 fronts

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FIERCE fighting for Yemen’s strategic Marib city had killed 70 pro-government and Houthi rebel fighters in 24 hours yesterday, with battles raging on three fronts, military officials said.

The Houthis have been trying to seize Marib, the capital of an oil-rich region and the government’s last significan­t pocket of territory in the north, since February.Two officials from pro-government forces said the rebels were mounting a concerted push that had left 26 loyalist soldiers dead as well as 44 from Houthi ranks. The rebels rarely disclose their losses.

The new toll adds to 53 killed on both sides in the previous 24 hours, military officials said.

One said yesterday the rebels “are launching simultaneo­us attacks” in the areas of Kassara and Al-Mashjah, northwest of the city, and Jabal Murad in the south. “They have made progress on the Kassara and Al-Mashjah fronts, but they have been thwarted on the Jabal Murad front,” he told AFP.

Another official said warplanes from the Saudi-led military coalition, which entered the Yemen conflict to support the government in 2015, launched airstrikes that “destroyed 12 Houthi military vehicles, including four tanks and a cannon”.

However, the Saudi firepower does not seem to have halted the rebel offensive.

The Iran-backed Houthis in late 2014 overran the capital Sana’a, 120km to the west of Marib, along with much of northern Yemen. The loss of Marib would be a heavy blow for the Yemeni government, based in the southern city of Aden, and for its Saudi backers.

It could also lead to humanitari­an disaster, as vast numbers of civilians displaced from fighting elsewhere have sought refuge in Marib.

Around 140 sites have sprung up to provide basic shelter for up to two million displaced, according to Yemen’s government. The rebels have stepped up missile and drone strikes against neighbouri­ng Saudi Arabia, demanding the opening of Yemen’s airspace and ports. They have rejected a Saudi proposal for a ceasefire.

The UN Security Council said the fighting “places one million internally displaced persons at grave risk and threatens efforts to secure a political settlement when the internatio­nal community is increasing­ly united to end the conflict”.

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