MA’RIB (Dispatches) – Yemeni forces have intensified attacks on Saudi-led mercenaries and former regime militants at Marib’s Al-Kassara frontline to reclaim the strategic region.
The Yemeni forces escalated their efforts to recapture Ma’rib, the last stronghold of the former regime forces in northern Yemen, in February, and have killed hundreds of the Saudi-backed militants.
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.
Saudi jets usually come to the rescue of the militants and carry out 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 Mansur 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.
Oman, long perceived as a neutral party in the Middle East, has spent the past few weeks attempting to get Saudi Arabia and Yemeni forces to the negotiating table. The aim is ambitious – to end Saudi-led the war in Yemen.