Sanaa Forces Resuming Their Progress: Marib Off the Barter

Translated by Staff, Al-Akhbar

Under the pro-Riyadh government’s attempt to make the battle of Marib a bartering material in the humanitarian dossier which has been separated from the political and the military dossiers by the Muscat negotiations, Sanaa forces resumed their progress in areas peripheral to the city. Over the past few hours, they were able to obtain strategically important areas on the western and northwestern fronts of the governorate center, moving the battle to areas near Sahn al-Jin in the city’s western neighborhoods.

The most recent military progress by the Yemeni army and the Popular Committees during the past 48 hours at the northwestern boundaries of Marib coincides with a similar progress that transported the battles to the city’s outskirts. The forces of ousted President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his loyal militias, also lost a number of strategic areas in the fronts in western Marib, as well as control over the courses of battle in more than one axis. Given this, a large number of military garrisons near the Sahn al-Jin military base in the western outskirts of the governorate center had fallen under the control of the Sanaa forces during violent confrontations on the fronts in East Kassara and Aydat al-Raa.

Yesterday's [Monday, March 29] confrontations, in which the Saudi Air Force carried out more than 20 raids, ended with the loss of new areas at the Kassara front. Meanwhile, the army and the committees were able to control the strategic sites such as Tibab al-Fajwa, Tibat al-Haramla and Tibat al-Saytara. This progress coincided with similar developments in the western front of Marib, with more than 70% of Aydat al-Raa area falling under the control of the Sanaa forces, which also took control of Hama al-Ziab and al-Hama al-Hamra areas located in the northwest of the governorate center near the Marib–al-Jawf highway.

In parallel, the battles intensified in the strategic vicinity of al-Talaa al-Hamra, as dozens of the Hadi forces fell under the siege of the army and the committees south al-Talaa. While confrontations with Salafi militias, emerging from Abyan governorate, have intensified on the central al-Balqain and al-Qibli in the southwest fronts Marib over the past hours, withdrawing to the northern front. Accordingly, the Sanaa forces reported further progress in the Raghwan front, as the intensity of the battles decreased on the Murad and al-Alam fronts in the southern and northern parts of the city.