Yemenis Edge Closer to Ma’rib Liberation as Infighting Rocks Saudi-Led Coalition
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Yemeni armed forces have edged closer to liberating the central province of Ma’rib after taking control of the neighboring strategic province of al-Jawf, which borders Saudi Arabia, local sources said.
Yemeni troops on Monday continued their ground advancements in Ma’rib as the sources reported heavy clashes between Emirati-backed southern separatists and Saudi-led mercenaries, the Lebanese al-Mayadeen television channel said.
The sources added that this came after Houthi forces managed to recapture al-Labanat military base from Saudi-led coalition forces in Jawf.
Yemeni forces seized al-Hazm, the capital city of the neighboring al-Jawf province in early March.
Months of bloody infighting broke out between the two groups last summer, resulting in heavy casualties for both sides before a power-sharing settlement was signed in November.
The new round of clashes comes after UAE-backed separatists announced that they had pulled out of committees implementing the agreement in January.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi war has claimed more than 100,000 lives in Yemen since 2015.
The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are now in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.