South Marib Battles Inflict Heavy Losses on Houthis

Arab World

July 21st, 7:59am

Aden – Asharq Al-Awsat

An armored vehicle belonging to the Yemeni army after clashes with Houthi militants in Marib (AP)

Houthis have lost hundreds of fighters in fierce battles raging for over a week in the southern parts of Yemen’s northeastern governorate of Marib, Yemeni military sources reported, adding that heavy losses forced the Iran-backed militia to call for reinforcements. Yemeni army offensives, backed by local tribes and Arab Coalition airstrikes, had driven the Iran-aligned group out of large swathes of Marib. Advances by the army continued through the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, moving past Marib’s Rahabah district, which pro-government forces had freed from Houthis a few days back. Yemeni army forces entered neighboring districts like Mahliyah. Taking over Rahabah, which sits along a key road that links Sanaa with Marib, helped the army cut the militia’s supply lines to fighters in Marib’s Serwah district. Moreover, field sources affirmed that army forces are inching in on the as-Sadarah region, which connects multiple strategic districts in Marib and other communities in the neighboring Al-Bayda governorate. Local sources in Houthi-held Sanaa and Dhamar revealed that insurgency militias deployed hundreds of their combatants on counterattack missions to regain territories the Iran-backed group had lost south of Marib. However, Houthi formations were broken up by army forces backed by the local Murad tribes. Also, Arab Coalition fighter jets pounded Houthi reinforcements headed to frontlines in Marib. Military sources estimated that hundreds of Houthi fighters were killed, wounded, and captured during the past ten days in the Rahabah and Jabal Murad districts. Houthis were also impacted by heavy losses in western and northwestern parts of Marib. According to army media, Arab Coalition forces destroyed a series of Houthi militia reinforcements based west of Serwah, Al-Mashjah, and Ragwan districts. In liberated areas, Yemeni army forces are working to secure parameters from Houthi counterattacks and to defuse landmines left behind by militants.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3091056/south-marib-battles-inflict-heavy-losses-houthis