Heavy fighting has left at least 90 dead 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, said on Saturday. March 6, government military sources.
Of those 90 fighters killed in clashes with Houthi rebels and raids by the Saudi-led military coalition, 32 were from government forces and loyalist tribes.
According to military sources in power, with Agence France-Presse (AFP), particularly violent clashes erupted on six fronts, the government forces having been able to counter the attacks of the Houthis, who only succeeded in advancing on the Kassara front, northwest of the town of Marib. The fighting also left dozens injured, the sources added.
Attacks on Saudi Arabia
The Saudi air force carried out strikes on several fronts against Houthis, killing at least 58 rebels and injuring dozens more, according to these sources.
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. Supported by Iran, they launched a new offensive in early February to seize Marib, the last bastion of government forces in the north, supported by the coalition.
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 rebels 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, while the United Nations (UN) fears in Marib and throughout Yemen a worsening of the humanitarian crisis, already the worst in the world, according to it.
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 sentence “ for a population that is only ” a step “ of a major famine, according to UN officials.
