Yemeni forces continue struggle against Saudi-led forces, establish security in areas of Ma’rib province

Yemen’s Army and its allied fighters from Popular Committees have successfully established security in areas in Jabal Murad District, located in the southwest of Ma’rib province, after ridding the areas of the Saudi-led coalition’s forces.

Local sources said on Thursday that the Yemeni forces continued to close in on the invading coalition forces in the southwest of Ma’rib province, IRNA reported, citing Yemeni media.

Clashes are still ongoing between the two sides in Haid al-Ahmad and Wadi al-Awsal regions, the sources added. 

There are also reports of widespread collapse of the ranks of the invading coalition forces. 

In recent weeks, the Yemeni Army and popular forces have been engaged in clashes with the Saudi-led coalition’s forces and their mercenaries in order to liberate Ma’rib city of the presence of the aggressors.

So far, the Yemeni Army has been successful in its push against the aggressors, with the latest reports suggesting that they have closed in on the city and are now only kilometers away from the oil-rich province’s capital. Ma’rib province’s tribes also responded positively to the Yemeni Army’s fight and came to their support.

In remarks on Tuesday, Sultan al-Arada, Ma’rib’s governor loyal to Yemen’s former Saudi-backed administration, said Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have partially withdrawn from Ma’rib.

Riyadh has pulled out its forces from Ma’rib, while Abu Dhabi has taken out its US-made Patriot missile systems, al-Arada told Yemeni media.

Western states condemn Yemeni push to liberate Ma’rib

Meanwhile, Western governments on Thursday condemned the push by the Yemeni government in Sana’a, which is run by the Houthi Ansarulllah movement, to liberate Ma’rib and the Yemeni Army’s strikes against Saudi Arabia.

“We, the governments of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, condemn the sustained Houthi offensive on the Yemeni city of Marib and the major escalation of attacks the Houthis have conducted and claimed against Saudi Arabia,” read a joint statement released by the US State Department.

They claimed the Yemeni Army’s push to liberate Ma’rib is “worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis.”

In recent days, the Saudi-led coalition has intensified airstrikes on the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, after drone and ballistic missile attacks respectively targeted a petroleum tank farm at Ras Tanura port and Saudi Aramco’s facilities in the city of Dhahran.

Saudi Arabia and some of its regional allies waged the Yemen war in March 2015 with the aim of reinstating a Riyadh-friendly regime.

The Saudi-led war, which has been accompanied by a full blockade on Yemen, has killed tens of thousands of people and taken a heavy toll on the Arab country’s infrastructure.

The UN has described the situation as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

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