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“We carried out 32 attacks in Abdiya over the past 24 hours,” the coalition said on Saturday (16/10/2021), as quoted by the Saudi Press Agency. The report also said that 11 military vehicles were destroyed and more than 160 terrorist elements disappeared.
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The Houthi rebels themselves rarely comment on reported losses and the casualty toll cannot be independently verified. The coalition said that since the start of last week, more than 700 rebels had been killed in air strikes in the fighting in Marib.
The Houthi rebels began a major push to seize Marib province in February. After the break, they renewed their attack in recent weeks. As a result of this fighting, According to the United Nations Migration Agency, tens of thousands of people have been displaced in the province this year. Nearly 10,000 of them in September alone.
Abdiya is located about 100km from the city of Marib, the internationally recognized government’s last foothold in the north. “Despite the Houthi losses in recent days, they are now in the center of the Abdiya district after a four-week siege,” said a loyalist source.
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The official said rebels had “kidnapped, imprisoned and harassed” Yemeni tribal members who support pro-government forces. Hussain al-Bukhaiti, a political analyst allied with the Houthi movement, told Al Jazeera that the rebel stronghold was advancing.
“Most of the fighters advancing towards Marib are from Marib province,” he said. “The Houthis are using fighters from the area they are about to liberate, and this sends a good message. If everyone there is against the Houthis, I don’t think they can advance a meter,” he continued.
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