Heavy fighting has killed at least 90 fighters in the past 24 hours in the strategic oil region of Marib in northern Yemen, which Houthi rebels have been trying to wrest from loyalist forces for a month, government military sources say.
• Read also: Yemen: Houthi rebels claim missile strike against Aramco factory
Supported by Iran, the rebels launched a new offensive in early February to seize Marib, the last stronghold in the north of government forces, supported by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
At least 90 fighters, including 32 government forces and loyalist tribes, were killed in clashes with Houthi rebels and coalition raids from Friday to Saturday, military sources within the Democratic Republic of the Congo told AFP. power.
According to them, particularly violent clashes erupted on six fronts, as government forces were able to counter attacks by the Houthis who only managed to advance on the Kassara front, northwest of the town of Marib.
The fighting also left dozens injured, the sources added.
The Saudi air force carried out several strikes against Houthi targets on several fronts, killing at least 58 rebels and injuring dozens more, the sources said.
The rebels, who rarely communicate the losses in their ranks, have not confirmed. In more than six years of war, their forces have succeeded in taking control of much of northern Yemen, including the historic capital Sana’a.
The capture of Marib would be a stinging setback for the Yemeni power and its Saudi ally. In parallel with their assaults on Marib, the Houthis have stepped up attacks targeting the powerful neighboring kingdom.
Shrapnel from drones launched by the Houthis and intercepted by the Saudis on Friday injured two civilians, including “a ten-year-old child” in the southwest of the kingdom, according to the official SPA news agency.
The United States has urged the Houthis to de-escalate, as the UN fears in Marib and across Yemen a worsening of the humanitarian crisis, already the world’s worst in the world.
At a virtual donor meeting on Monday, it only raised $ 1.7 billion, out of the $ 3.85 billion expected to fund humanitarian aid. A “death penalty” for a population which is only “one step away” from a major famine, according to UN officials.