ADEN, Mac 25 (NNN-SABA) – Fierce clashes erupted between Yemeni pro-government forces and Houthi militants, yesterday, in the country’s north-eastern Marib province, resulting in a total of nine fatalities among both sides, a military official said.
The local military official, who asked to remain anonymous, said, heavy artillery fire was noticed during pre-dawn armed confrontations on the Balaq front lines, south of Marib province, making it one of the fiercest battles between the two sides in months.
The source stated that, “the hours-long gun battles left three soldiers dead and four others injured, while six Houthi fighters were killed and several more wounded within rebel ranks.”
The escalation comes, in wake of a relative calm that had prevailed across Marib’s frontlines, where the internationally recognised government forces have managed to fend off large-scale attacks by the Houthis.
The renewed violence comes, in face of recent appeals by the United Nations for maximum restraint to protect tentative progress towards ending Yemen’s nine-year civil war.
During a UN Security Council session on Thursday, UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, urged the warring parties to reduce rising hostilities and “refrain from provocations” that could jeopardise nascent peace efforts.
Despite multiple diplomatic endeavours over the years, neither side demonstrated the requisite will, to revive negotiations, aimed at resolving a conflict that, according to United Nations estimates, has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and pushed millions more to the brink of famine.– NNN-SABA
