A thousand hush fighters would have permanently permanently in the strategic province of Marib.
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The battle of marib is intensifies and the vertiginous counts of the dead accumulate. The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen said, Sunday, October 17, having killed about 165 Houthist rebels south of this strategic city.
A thousand Houthist fighters would have perished under aerial strikes in a week, says the coalition. Balance sheets that, if they can not be independent verified, testify to the violence of the fighting. Only certainty, of the admission of the two camps, the rebels are progressing.
Since the spring, the Hushists, military-religious group of Shiite origin, from the north of the country and supported by Iran, attempt to occupy the province of Marib, defended by a coalition of tribal militia and by the Faithful forces to the President, ABD Rabbo Mansour Hadi, himself dislodged from the capital, Sanaa, in February 2015; An event that had precipitated the intervention of Saudi Arabia.
In this wear battle are the contours of a new balance of power that the hushists seek to impose on the ground. Located 120 kilometers from Sanaa, at the gates of the central desert of Yemen, the city is the last bastion of the government in the north of the country. Opposite, its Hushian opponents are convinced that a victory in Marib will end the war in the North, will improve their position to negotiate with Saudi Arabia and consolidate the economic viability of the territory they control.
Gas and oil reserves
The Marib Governorate has important gas and oil reserves: the region produces nearly 10% of the diesel and, above all, 90% of the liquefied oil gas consumed in the country. Which is used for cooking and heating in almost all Yemeni households.
Local authorities, which have arrogated part of the manna, have been able to maintain a certain stability and ensure a relative prosperity to the province, which hosts nearly 750,000 displaced, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for the refugees. Today on the defensive, their options seem limited.
“An offer was made to the tribes of Marib by the Hushists almost one year ago: denouncing the coalition led by Saudi Arabia, hunting al-Qaida activists into the Arabian Peninsula and the ‘Islamic state of the governorate, and share oil and gas revenues “, describes Abdulhani Al-Iryan, Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies. “Local leaders could keep their positions and benefit, at least for the moment, of some local autonomy. The agreement presents some interest: the tribes have suffered significant losses and some are worried about the fact that the Hushists can bear more losses. After all, they draw their recruits in a population of more than 20 million inhabitants … “
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