DUBAI, United Arab Emirates— Sixty-five
combatants have been killed in fighting after Yemen's Houthi rebels renewed an
offensive on Marib, the last government stronghold in the country's oil-rich north,
a military official said Thursday.
اضافة اعلان
The Iran-backed rebels attacked pro-government positions south of the
strategic city, making progress despite losing dozens of fighters in coalition
air strikes.
It was the Houthis' first major offensive on Marib, the key to controlling
the region, since June, when 111 fighters on both sides died in three days of
clashes.
"Twenty-two pro-government (forces) were killed and 50 others were
wounded, while 43
Houthi rebels were also killed in the last 48 hours," a
government military official told AFP.
The figures were confirmed by other military and medical sources.
The resurgence in fighting comes after strikes on Yemen's largest airbase,
in the country's south, killed at least 30 pro-government fighters on Sunday in
the deadliest incident since December.
It also comes just days before the United Nations' new special envoy for
Yemen, Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg, takes up his duties.
Yemen's internationally recognized government — backed by a Saudi-led
military coalition — and the Houthis have been locked in war since 2014, when
the insurgents seized the capital Sanaa.
In February, the Houthis escalated their efforts to take Marib in fighting
that has killed hundreds on both sides. Control of the oil-rich north would strengthen
the Houthis' bargaining position in peace talks.
While the UN and Washington are pushing for an end to the war, the Houthis
have demanded the repening of Sanaa airport, closed under a Saudi blockade
since 2016, before any ceasefire or negotiations.
Alleged war crimes
As well as the bloody offensive in Marib, the Houthis have also stepped up
drone and missile strikes on Saudi targets, including its oil facilities.
Eight people were wounded on Tuesday in the latest such drone attack that
also damaged a civilian plane and the entrance to Abha airport in southwest
Saudi Arabia.
In June, then UN envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told the Security Council
that his efforts over the past three years to end the war had been "in
vain".
The fighting has killed tens of thousands and left some 80 percent of
Yemenis dependent on aid, in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian
crisis.
The war has also displaced millions of people and left many on the brink of
famine.
On Monday, lawyers representing victims of the conflict made a submission to
the International Criminal Court for an investigation into alleged
war crimes and crimes against humanity by pro-government forces.
The allegations center on a 2016 coalition air strike that killed 140 people
at a funeral in Sanaa, and a 2018 air strike on a school bus in northern Yemen
that killed at least 40 children.
The coalition has admitted that "mistakes" were made, and said it
would put on trial military personnel suspected of being behind strikes on
civilians, including the school bus strike.
The ICC, in The Hague, has no obligation to consider complaints filed to the
prosecutor by individuals or groups.
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