The fighting in Marib could thwart renewed efforts by the U.N. to re-launch negotiations between the warring sides. They have not held substantive negotiations since 2019.
SANAA, Yemen — Heavy fighting between forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels raged again on Sunday, extending a week of violence in the strategic province of Marib, Yemeni officials said. With dozens killed, the fighting has cast major doubt over U.N.-led efforts to restart negotiations to end years of civil war. The Iranian-backed rebels earlier this month renewed their attack on the oil-rich province, an anti-Houthi stronghold held by the internationally recognized government. But they faced stiff resistance and have not made progress amid heavy causalities mostly from the Houthis, military officials from both sides said. Yemen’s war started in 2014, when the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed intervened months later to dislodge the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government. The conflict has killed some 130,000 people and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. The rebels seek to wrestle control of Marib, closing off Saudi-Arabi’s southern border and taking control of oil fields in the province that would give them leverage in possible peace negotiations.
