Scores of rebels killed in Saudi-led attacks in Yemen’s Marib

By Aziz al-Ahmadi

MARIB, Yemen (AA) – Scores of Houthi rebels were killed in Saudi-led coalition attacks in Yemen’s central Marib province in the past 24 hours, the coalition said on Monday.

The coalition said in a statement that it carried out 33 airstrikes against Houthis in Al-Abdiyah district in Marib.

“More than 156 rebels were killed and eight military vehicles destroyed in the attacks,” added the statement cited by the Saudi state news agency SPA.

There was no comment from the Houthi group on the coalition’s statement.

On Sunday, the coalition said it had killed 400 rebels in airstrikes in Al-Abdiyah district in the past five days.

Houthi rebels have slapped a siege on Al-Abdiyah district in recent weeks, amid fighting with Yemeni government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises with 233,000 people killed, nearly 80% or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 13 million in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.

*Writing by Bassel Barakat in Ankara