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A30 world news
Diahuebs 8 Juli 2021

Costly and critical: The battle for a key Yemeni city

the surge in fatalities. smaller, parallel conflicts, be-
tween militants and different
“We bury between 10 to 15 factions inside the country.
people every day, mostly
martyrs in the war,” said After years of criticism over
Mohammed Saeed Nasser, a civilian casualties from air-
guard at the cemetery. strikes, U.S. President Joe
Biden’s administration in
The main hospital in Marib February withdrew its back-
has been overwhelmed by ing for the coalition’s cam-
dozens of wounded fighters a paign in Yemen.
day for months, said its direc-
tor, Dr. Mohamed Abdo al- Yemeni government and
Qubati. At an intensive care military officials say that de-
unit, there were 10 patients, cision, along with Biden’s
all but one injured fighters. removal of the Houthis from
a U.S. terrorism list, embold-
In one of the beds, Ali Saad, ened the rebels in Marib.
22, lay partially paralyzed. He
was shot by a Houthi sniper “The Houthis appear to cal-
on the frontline on June 18. culate that if they win in
Marib, they will have won
Saad has been fighting in gov- the war for the north of Ye-
(AP) — The two fighters while hitting the residential guing the weapons are need- ernment forces since 2017. men while humiliating the
stand shoulder-to-shoul- city center with missiles and ed to tip the scales at Marib. During that time, he and internationally recognized
der on a mountain over- explosive-laden drones, kill- “The world has some reser- his family fled their home in president,” said Peter Salis-
look, with a clear view ing and wounding dozens of vations about arming Yemen southwestern Dhamar prov- bury, Yemen expert at the
below of the enemy’s posi- civilians. in the current time.” ince as the war escalated. Lat- International Crisis Group.
tion. They are part of the er, he was captured and held “That is a considerable prize
last lines of defense be- So far, the rebels have made An AP crew travelled in for a year in a Houthi prison for their side, as it would also
tween the government’s only incremental progress, recent weeks to the city until he was released in an allow them to dictate terms
last stronghold in Yemen’s inching slowly across the through Saudi Arabia on a October prisoner exchange. for an end to the war.”
north, and the Houthi desert plain, because of Saudi government-organized trip.
rebels trying to take it. airstrikes that wreak heavy “I suffered a lot in captiv- U.S. State Department
casualties in their ranks. Marib, some 115 kilome- ity, I was tortured physically spokesman Ned Price said
Hassan Saleh and his younger Government and medical of- ters (70 miles) east of Sanaa and mentally,” he said. “This Thursday that the adminis-
brother Saeed, both in their ficials in Marib estimate that on the edge of Yemen’s large gave us a glimpse into what tration was “beyond fed up”
early 20s, have been fight- thousands of fighters have deserts, is a strategic gate- Houthis were really like. We with the Houthis and “hor-
ing alongside other govern- been killed or wounded, way from the central high- came out with a stronger and rified by the repeated attacks
ment fighters and tribesman mostly rebels, since Febru- lands to southern and eastern indescribable will to fight on Marib.” He denounced
outside the oil-rich city of ary. In the Houthi-held capi- provinces. It’s also home to them.” His father and one of the rebels for continuing
Marib, against the months- tal, Sanaa, mass funerals and oil and gas fields where in- his three brothers were also the offensive despite a “seri-
long offensive by the Iranian- death announcements of sol- ternational firms including wounded on the Marib front ous (peace) proposal before
backed rebels. They say they diers, some of them children, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Total earlier this year. them.”
need more weapons to push indicate how costly the battle SA have interests. Its natural
the attackers back. has been, though Houthis do gas bottling plant produces Yemen’s civil war began An Omani delegation held
not release official death tolls. cooking gas for the nation of in 2014 when the Houthis talks in Sanaa with Houthi
“We need sniper rifles,” said 29 million people. Its power seized Sanaa and much of leaders including the group’s
Hassan, who was taking a po- The grueling battle over the plant once provided 40% of the north, forcing the gov- religious and military leader,
sition in a sandbagged trench remote city seems inter- Yemen’s electricity. ernment of President Abed Abdel-Malek al-Houthi. A
in the mountainous Kassara twined with the sluggish ef- Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee. Saudi diplomat, meanwhile,
region. All that most bat- forts for peace. The Houthis Its relative stability in past said there have been ongoing
talions have are old Kalash- appear to hope capturing years made it a haven for The Saudi-led coalition, efforts, including direct Sau-
nikovs and machine guns Marib will give them the those fleeing the war’s oth- backed at the time by the di-Houthi talks since 2019,
mounted on the rear of pick- upper hand in talks. Mean- er fronts. The area, which U.S., entered the war to try to find a common ground.
up trucks. while government officials had a pre-war population of restoring Hadi to power. He spoke on condition of
complain that American and 400,000, now also hosts some Amid the relentless air cam- anonymity in line with regu-
This is the most active front- international wariness at fu- 2.2 million displaced people, paign and ground fighting, lations.
line in Yemen’s nearly 7-year- eling the interminable war many of them crowded into the war has killed more than
old civil war, where a steady prevents them from getting camps, according to official 130,000 people and spawned A spokesman for the Houthis
stream of fighters on both weapons they need to win in statistics. the world’s worst humanitar- did not respond to calls and
sides are killed or wounded Marib. ian crisis. It has also created messages seeking comment.
every day, even as interna- The city’s streets are bustling
tional pressure to end the The U.S. is pressuring the during the day with taxis and
war intensifies. Amid anoth- Saudi-led coalition that backs 4x4 vehicles belonging to se-
er round of peace talks, this the government not to pro- curity forces. At night, men
time led by Oman, the des- vide more weapons for fear frequent restaurants and ca-
ert city of Marib remains the they could fall into militants’ fes or gather in homes, chew-
crucible of one of the world’s hands amid worries over gov- ing leaves of qat for a stimu-
most bogged-down conflicts. ernment “graft and incompe- lant effect. There’s little heed
tence,” a Yemeni official told paid to the fighting just out-
The Houthis have for years the Associated Press, speak- side their city.
attempted to take Marib to ing on condition of anonym-
complete their control over ity because he was not autho- But the posters of fallen com-
the northern half of Yemen. rized to brief reporters. manders and troops lining
But since February, they have “We are at a crossroads,” said the roadways serve as a re-
waged an intensified offen- Marib’s provincial governor minder. The city’s cemetery
sive from multiple fronts, Sheikh Sultan al-Aradah, ar- has been expanded to absorb