At least 10 pro-Yemeni government forces and several Houthi rebels were killed in renewed fighting in Yemen’s central province of Marib, in latest escalation despite renewed talks of peace efforts.
According to military sources who spoke to AFP, rebel fighters launched an attack on hills overlooking the Harib district in the south of Marib, which is controlled the government forces. Dozens of families in the area fled the clashes. Last month, at least four government forces were killed in the same district.
The renewed fighting threatens international efforts to reach a peace deal between the Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed government, building on a truce that expired in October last year. The warring sides had agreed to the nationwide truce in April, a first in six years. The cease-fire had largely held, although sporadic clashes were reported in oil-rich Marib.
In recent years, the Houthis have been pushing to seize Marib, which is the government’s last stronghold in the north of the country. However, they have faced a series of setbacks in their offensive, facing fierce resistance from government forces.
Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels have been embroiled in a deadly war since the rebels took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014 after unseating Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and his government, which eventually settled in Saudi Arabia.
The conflict quickly turned into a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which has been leading an Arab military coalition in support of the internationally recognized government since 2015. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions on the brink of famine in what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, efforts to end the war and reach a peace deal have stalled, despite some breakthroughs. On Monday, UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced that the Yemeni government and Houthis agreed to exchange 887 prisoners of war.
The agreement came after 10 days of negotiations between the warring sides, overseen by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. According to Grundberg, the parties agreed to meet again in May. “From the discussions, I feel that there is a willingness to engage in a positive direction on trying to come to a settlement on the conflict in Yemen,” he told a press conference in Geneva at the end of the talks.
