MA’RIB (Dispatches) – Scores of militants have been killed as the Yemeni armed and popular forces intensified attacks on Saudi-backed militants and mercenaries in the northeastern province of Ma’rib, an official said Wednesday.
According to the local official who asked to remain anonymous, the most intense battles were erupted ferociously between the two sides as the Sana’a-backed armed forces backed by popular forces are inching closer to take control of key areas on the northern part of the oil-rich province.
He said the Yemeni army launched a major attack on the military positions of the militants, adding the battles are taking place fiercely on all fronts in the north, northwest and west of Ma’rib.
He confirmed on Tuesday that the fighting left 28 Saudi-backed during the past 48 hours in Ma’rib’s fighting.
The Yemeni armed forces reported that the Saudi jets came to the rescue of the militants and carried out 27 airstrikes against the army positions in Ma’rib.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the U.S. and its other regional allies, launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi’s government back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement, which significantly assists the army in defending the country against the invaders.
The Saudi-led military aggression has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions of people. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases across the country.
Ma’rib and its surrounding oilfields are the last significant pockets of territory held by pro-Hadi militants in the north.