The military alliance led by Saudi Arabia, which intervened in the 2015 war in Yemen, announced on Thursday the death of another 125 Shiite Houthi rebels after more than 20 airstrikes in the strategically important province of Marib, the last 24 hours.
Internationally recognized government in this area, where conflicts have been raging since the beginning of the year.
The alliance under Riyadh announces daily for a month that it is inflicting heavy losses on the guerrillas with the air strikes it launches.
However, the reports he publishes can not be confirmed by independent sources, while the Houthis publish only rare facts about the victims in their ranks. The bombings do not seem to be stopping the guerrillas from advancing.
The alliance carried out “22 airstrikes destroying 14 military vehicles and killing 125” insurgents in Sirwa (west of Marib) and al-Baida (south), according to a statement broadcast by the official Saudi news agency SPA.
Earlier in the day, he said he had targeted “ballistic missiles and drones, as well as Houthi weapons depots” in Sanaa and Saada. This last city, north of the capital, a rebel stronghold, is one of the worst-hit areas in the war.
Since the outbreak of armed conflict in Yemen in 2014, the Iranian-backed Houthis have gradually taken control of almost the entire north, including the capital but not Marib.
The loss of the city and the oil-rich province of the same name would be a disastrous development for the internationally recognized government and its main protector, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The new hostilities were recorded as the UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, completed his three-day visit to the country yesterday.
In a press release he issued, he stressed once again “the need for the warring parties to reach a comprehensive solution through a constructive dialogue.”
The conflict of more than seven years in the poorest country of the Arabian Peninsula has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, and displaced millions more, according to international aid organizations.
According to the UN, the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world is unfolding in Yemen in recent years.
