At least 10 people were killed in Yemen's Marib province on Friday as Houthi rebels escalated their attacks on the oil-rich region, raising concerns of a return to war in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country. The latest violence comes after a2022 truce between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government largely held, before unravelling last month. A Yemeni military source reported that Houthi attacks in Marib province killed eight members of government forces and wounded 12 others, while the health minister for the Saudi-backed government said the rebels had shelled residential areas and displacement camps in Marib city, killing at least two civilians and wounding 14 others.
The Iran-backed rebels claimed an attack on a government-held military camp in Marib province, with Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree stating that "the Saudi enemy continued to mobilise and incite its forces ... these forces were attacked along with their arsenals, vehicles and military equipment in the Sahn al-Jinn camp with a large number of missiles and drones". The Yemeni military source also reported that the Houthis had launched "more than 10 missiles and seven one-way attack drones targeting military camps in Marib" province. Health minister Qasim Buhaibeh condemned the attacks, saying that "shelling by the terrorist Houthi militia today, Friday, targeting residential neighbourhoods and displacement camps in the city of Marib, has resulted, according to an initial toll, in the deaths of two civilians and injuries of varying severity to 14 others".
A source close to the Saudi military warned that the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government since2015 would not stand "idly by" as the Houthis step up their attacks, adding that Marib was a "red line". The source stated that "the coalition does not seek escalation, but we will not allow the current balance of power on the ground to be changed", and that Riyadh would not accept a Houthi takeover of Marib. The rebels said Thursday that they had attacked several sites in response to a Saudi-backed build-up of government forces, with Thursday's attacks killing at least 58 government troops, mainly in Marib.
Strategic Marib province is split between the Houthis and the Yemeni government, which controls the city of the same name as well as the area's oil fields and facilities. The Houthis in 2021 resumed an offensive seeking to take the energy-rich province, but the fighting was largely halted after a nationwide truce was agreed in 2022. Yemen, which has been embroiled in more than a decade of war, last month became the latest front to be sucked into the US-Iran conflict, as the Tehran-backed Houthis upended the 2022 truce. The rebels welcomed an Iranian plane directly to the Yemeni capital Sanaa, triggering a series of tit-for-tat attacks, and later announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its tankers.
The escalation of violence in Marib province has significant implications for the region, with the potential for a wider conflict between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government. The international community will be closely watching the situation, as the conflict in Yemen continues to be a major concern for regional stability. The Houthis' attacks on Marib province have raised the stakes, and it remains to be seen how the situation will unfold in the coming days.
