Saudi-led coalition launches 39 airstrikes on Ma’rib amid advances by Yemeni forces

The Saudi-led war coalition has launched dozens of air raids on separate areas of Yemen’s Ma’rib Province as the Yemeni armed forces continue to advance against Saudi Arabia’s mercenaries in the embattled area.

The fighter jets of the coalition launched 17 raids on Sirwah district, a security official told Yemen Press Agency (YPA) on Wednesday.

They also targeted the province’s Rahba district with 14 strikes and Mudaghl district with 8 strikes, the official added, denouncing the Saudi-led coalition’s continued attacks on villages and populated areas in the province.

The raids followed the Yemeni army’s complete recapture of the Rahba district, located south of Ma’rib Province, on Wednesday.

The strategic district’s liberation will cut off the Saudi-led coalition forces’ supply routes linking al-Bayda and Ma’rib Provinces, returning to the Yemeni army the control of the most important strategic roads towards the center of the capital city of Ma’rib.

According to tribal sources, the Sana’a government’s forces launched an intense military operation on the al-Kula area, where they have been tightening the noose on the coalition’s mercenaries since August 17.

Yemen defense forces not far from recapturing whole Ma’rib: Reports

Reports say Yemen’s allied defense forces are close on the verge of recapturing the strategic city of Ma’rib.

Following fierce battles, which led to casualties on both sides, Yemeni armed forces managed to take control of the security district building in al-Kula area and secured the rest of the outskirts of Wadi and al-Mushairif mountains, they said.

The Riyadh-led forces have been striving with unsuccessful attempts to stop the Yemeni army’s advances towards Ma’rib city by intensifying airstrikes towards positions that the Sana’a government’s forces forces have seized in Rahba.

Meanwhile, informed sources told the YPA that the chief of the military operations of the Saudi-led coalition forces in Ma’rib city, Major General Nasser Al-Thibani, died on Wednesday.

Al-Thibani died as a result of wounds he sustained in an attack that targeted Sahn Al-Jin camp three days ago, the sources added.

Hudaydah truce violated 202 times

Furthermore, the militants serving the Saudi-led coalition committed on Wednesday 202 violations of a ceasefire agreement reached between the warring sides in 2018 for the western coastal province of Hudaydah.

The YPA, citing an unnamed source in the Correlation and Coordination Operations Room, reported that the violations included establishing new combat fortifications in Kilo 16, Faza and Jabalia areas.

The source affirmed that the breaches included four raids on Faza area and Tuhayta district and the flying of nine spy aircraft over Faza, Jah, Jabalia, areas and Tuhayta district.

They also committed 14 violations including 172 breaches by machine guns and 132 artillery shells, the source added.

Houthi to US, Saudis: Prepare Yemen retreat plan after Afghanistan fiasco

In the wake of America’s disgraceful withdrawal from Afghanistan after a futile war, a senior Yemeni official has called on the United States and Saudi Arabia to draw up a plan for pullout from Yemen as well.

At least four civilians were also injured on Wednesday as a result of the coalition’s bombings on residential and commercial areas in Hudaydah city.

Three citizens were wounded when the Saudi-led forces targeted a branch of Thabet Brothers Company in al-Shuhada neighborhood, which also caused damage to a number of cars and vehicles.

Another citizen was seriously wounded by the coalition forces’ fire in al-Salakhana area in Hudaydah city, a security source said.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2015, when Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a devastating war against the poor Middle Eastern country to reinstall Yemen’s former government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close Riyadh ally, in Sana’a.

The war, accompanied by a tight siege, has failed to reach its goals and killed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people, putting millions more at risk of starvation by destroying much of the country’s infrastructure.

In the meantime, the Western powers, particularly the US and the UK, have supported Saudi Arabia and continued to sell weapons and military equipment to Riyadh throughout the war.

Since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 2018, Hudaydah has been targeted by Saudi-led forces in violation of the truce on a daily basis.

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