Yemen Gov't Forces Sweep Through Marib 01/26 06:08

   

   CAIRO (AP) -- Forces of Yemen's internationally recognized government and 
their United Arab Emirates-backed allies swept through a strategic central 
province, forcing Houthi rebels out of its second largest district, officials 
said Wednesday.

   The development in Marib province is another setback for the Iranian-backed 
Houthis, who for a year attempted to take control of the oil-rich province. 
Their offensive crumbled when the UAE-backed Giants Brigades helped reclaim the 
nearby Shabwa province earlier this month before advancing in Marib under air 
cover from the Saudi-led coalition.

   Government forces and the Giants retook the district of Harib and its center 
south of Marib city after nearly two weeks of fighting, pushing their way to 
the nearby district of Juba, said Brig. Abdou Megali, a military spokesman. The 
Houthis had taken the two districts last year, part of their offensive on Marib.

   Fighting also raged between government forces and the Houthis elsewhere 
including in the provinces of Jawf and Taiz, he added.

   The Giants posted footage purportedly showing their forces roaming through 
what they said was the center of Harib. Other footage showed fighters on 
armored 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 authorized to speak to media.

   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 recent escalation of ground fighting has coincided with intense Houthi 
cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as heavy coalition 
airstrikes on the rebel-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

   The Houthi military media reported dozens of coalition airstrikes on Sanaa 
and elsewhere in Yemen over the past 24 hours. The rebels said there were at 
least 20 airstrikes overnight on Sanaa alone.

   The ongoing battlefield setbacks prompted Brig. Yahai Sarei, a Houthi 
military spokesman, to threaten further attacks on the UAE.

   The Houthis have made Marib city their main target for the past three years. 
They first retook town after town in the neighboring province, before finally 
reaching the outskirts of the city itself. But their hopes in capturing it 
diminished when the UAE-backed forces joined the clashes, shifting the tide of 
the conflict.

   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 in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition, backed at the 
time by the U.S., 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.