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Arabia

Dozens Killed as Battle for Yemen's Marib Flares

2021-06-21

[AnNahar] Renewed battles between government forces and Iran's Houthi sock puppets

...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s over the strategic city of Marib in northern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
have left 47 dead, including 16 pro-government forces, military sources said.

The Iran-backed rebels are seeking to seize control of Marib and its surrounding oil fields, the Yemeni government's last stronghold in the north after six years of fighting that has plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis.

Diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire in Yemen had intensified, in parallel with the fierce campaign for control of Marib, which has left thousands dead on both sides.

But with no agreement in sight, the fighting has flared again after a lull over the past month.

Sources with the internationally recognized government told AFP that 16 soldiers from their ranks were killed, including six officers, on Saturday. The holy warriors rarely report their casualties.

The Huthis "launched attacks on various fronts, in an attempt to advance, but they were mostly repelled," one of the officials told AFP.

The sources said that warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition, which supports the beleaguered government, launched air strikes on rebel sites.

The Huthis said on their Al Masirah television channel that the coalition had also carried out 17 air strikes in different parts of Marib province.

The renewed fighting over Marib comes after the failure of a diplomatic push by the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
, the United States and regional nations to secure a ceasefire in Yemen.

The outgoing U.N. envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths on Tuesday told the Security Council his own efforts over the past three years to end the war have been "in vain."

"It is with deep regret that I report today that the parties have not overcome their differences," he said.

Yemen has been devastated by the civil war which broke out in 2014, and millions of civilians are on the brink of famine, according to the U.N.

The Huthis have repeatedly demanded the re-opening of the airport in the rebel-held northern capital of Sanaa before agreeing to any ceasefire.

As well as the bloody offensive in Marib, the Huthis have also stepped up drone and missile strikes on Saudi targets, including its oil facilities.

Saudi air defenses on Saturday intercepted and destroyed 11 drones fired at the kingdom by Houthis in Yemen, Saudi state media reported, quoting the coalition battling the bully boys.

"The interception operations were successful," the coalition said in a statement, adding that the drones were packed with explosives and seven were neutralized in Yemeni air space.

Posted by:trailing wife

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