The Yemeni army said on Sunday that it inflicted heavy losses on the Houthi rebel forces over two weeks of battles in the central province of Ma’rib.
The Commander of the Third Military Region, Major General Mansour Abdullah Thawabh, confirmed in a statement that “members of the National Army and the Resistance have fought heroic epics in Marib, during the past two weeks, and are still fighting battles against the Houthi militia, with the support of the Arab coalition aircraft.”
“The army and resistance forces managed during the same period to break dozens of Houthi attacks, which they launched on several fronts in Marib,” he said.
He added that “the Houthi militia lost more than 200 of its members, killed, including field leaders, in addition to hundreds of wounded,” revealing that “the army’s defenses shot down 7 Houthi drones in separate areas on the southern and western outskirts of Ma’rib Governorate.”
The military official did not mention any casualties among the army.
Since the beginning of last February 2021, the Houthis have intensified their attacks in Marib to control it, as it is the most important stronghold of the government and the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense, in addition to its enjoyment of oil and gas wealth, as well as containing the Marib gas station, which before the war supplied most of the provinces with electricity.
Yemen has been witnessing a war for nearly 7 years, which has killed more than 233,000 people, and 80 percent of the population, numbering about 30 million, has become dependent on support and aid, in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.
The conflict has regional spillovers. Since March 2015, a coalition led by neighboring Saudi Arabia has been carrying out military operations in support of the government forces, in the face of the Iranian-backed Houthis, who control several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa.
