Yemeni forces retake strategic sites in Marib province

Houthi rebels defeated after battle that lasted two weeks, say resistance fighters

Giants Brigades fighters in Yemen's Shabwa governorate. AFP

The Yemeni army and Giants Brigades forces have retaken complete control of strategic sites in Marib province.

Yemeni army sources said its soldiers fought alongside the Giants Brigades, a resistance force that fights for the internationally recognised government, to regain control of the Aqabat Mallaa district, Sky News Arabia reported.

The military and the Giants Brigades are fighting running battles to defeat the Iran-backed Houthi militants as they continue to advance south of Marib, the army said.

The Houthis recently lost the Harib district south of Marib, a strategically vital northern city they have been fighting to hold for months.

The Giants Brigades said “hundreds were killed and wounded on both sides” in battles that lasted for more than two weeks and also secured the neighbouring governorate of Shabwa.

“We thank the Arab coalition for their support for our operations in Shabwa, which were crowned with complete success,” the Giants Brigades said. A Saudi-led coalition is supporting government forces.

The Giants posted footage purportedly showing their forces roaming through what they said was the centre of Harib. Other footage showed fighters on armoured vehicles speeding in what they said were mountainous areas overlooking the district.

Two other military officials from inside the coalition also said the district had been taken. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Yemeni pro-government fighters with weapons captured in Harib on January 25 after Houthi rebels were beaten by Giants Brigades fighters. AFP

In a decree for local authorities, Marib’s provincial governor Sheikh Sultan Al Aradah ordered the restoration of all services in the district, which he said the Houthis disrupted when they took it in September.

Houthi spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The clashes are part of a major escalation in the seven-year war after the Houthis, who have suffered a series of territorial defeats, launched a deadly drone-and-missile attack on the UAE last week.

Since February last year, the Houthis have intensified their attacks on Marib, which is rich in oil and gas, despite international and UN warnings of the dangers facing the lives of thousands of displaced people living in the province.

About three million people live in the city of Marib, including nearly a million who fled there from other areas in Yemen.

The war in the Arab world’s poorest country began in 2014, when the Houthis took Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government to flee to the south, then into exile. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war months later to try to restore the government to power.

The conflict has since become a regional proxy war that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and fighters. The war also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.