(Riyadh) The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen claimed on Saturday that it had killed more than 157 Houthi rebels in the past 24 hours in new raids around Marib, the last loyalist stronghold in the war-torn north of the country.
The coalition, which has supported the government since 2015, has been claiming daily for nearly a month that it inflicts significant losses on the rebels, which does not prevent them from advancing towards Marib.
The coalition’s records cannot be independently verified, and the Houthis rarely communicate their losses.
“Fourteen military vehicles have been destroyed and more than 157 terrorist elements eliminated” in the past 24 hours, the coalition said in a statement released by the official Saudi press agency SPA.
The air raids targeted two areas around the oil-rich province of Marib, al-Jawf (to the north) and al-Bayda (to the south). The coalition also struck, within the province of Marib, the locality of Sirwah, west of the town of Marib, capital of the province.
Since the outbreak of the war in 2014 with the capture of the capital Sanaa (north), the Houthis, close to Iran, have gradually taken control of a large part of northern Yemen, with the exception of Marib. The loss of this strategic province would be a disaster for the government and its Saudi ally.
The coalition air force is supporting government troops trying to repel the Houthi offensive on Marib. Air raids and ground fighting have intensified in recent weeks around the city in the midst of a bloody battle since February.
On Tuesday, a loyalist military official admitted that the insurgents were advancing in the direction of Marib, despite the reported losses. At the same time, the Houthis had claimed to be very close to the city.
In seven years, the war has plunged Yemen into one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world according to the UN, with more than two-thirds of the population dependent on international aid. Tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, have been killed and millions displaced according to international organizations.