\n Sixty-five combatants have been killed in fighting after Yemen's Huthi rebels renewed an offensive on Marib, the last government stronghold in the country's oil-rich north, a military official said Thursday.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Iran-backed rebels attacked pro-government positions south of the strategic city, making progress despite losing dozens of fighters in coalition air strikes.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was the Huthis' first major offensive on Marib, the key to controlling the region, since June, when 111 fighters on both sides died in three days of clashes.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Twenty-two pro-government (forces) were killed and 50 others were wounded, while 43 Huthi rebels were also killed in the last 48 hours,\" a government military official told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n The figures were confirmed by other military and medical sources.\n<\/p>\n
\n The resurgence in fighting comes after strikes on Yemen's largest airbase, in the country's south, killed at least 30 pro-government fighters on Sunday in the deadliest incident since December.\n<\/p>\n
\n It also comes just days before the United Nations' new special envoy for Yemen, Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg, takes up his duties.\n<\/p>\n
\n Yemen's internationally recognised government -- backed by a Saudi-led military coalition -- and the Huthis have been locked in war since 2014, when the insurgents seized the capital Sanaa.\n<\/p>\n
\n In February, the Huthis escalated their efforts to take Marib in fighting that has killed hundreds on both sides. Control of the oil-rich north would strengthen the Huthis' bargaining position in peace talks.\n<\/p>\n
\n While the UN and Washington are pushing for an end to the war, the Huthis have demanded the re-opening of Sanaa airport, closed under a Saudi blockade since 2016, before any ceasefire or negotiations.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Alleged war crimes -\n<\/p>\n
\n As well as the bloody offensive in Marib, the Huthis have also stepped up drone and missile strikes on Saudi targets, including its oil facilities.\n<\/p>\n
\n Eight people were wounded on Tuesday in the latest such drone attack that also damaged a civilian plane and the entrance to Abha airport in southwest Saudi Arabia.\n<\/p>\n
\n In June, then UN envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that his efforts over the past three years to end the war had been \"in vain\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The fighting has killed tens of thousands and left some 80 percent of Yemenis dependent on aid, in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.\n<\/p>\n
\n The war has also displaced millions of people and left many on the brink of famine.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Monday, lawyers representing victims of the conflict made a submission to the International Criminal Court for an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by pro-government forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n The allegations centre on a 2016 coalition air strike that killed 140 people at a funeral in Sanaa, and a 2018 air strike on a school bus in northern Yemen that killed at least 40 children.\n<\/p>\n
\n The coalition has admitted that \"mistakes\" were made, and said it would put on trial military personnel suspected of being behind strikes on civilians, including the school bus strike.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ICC, in The Hague, has no obligation to consider complaints filed to the prosecutor by individuals or groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sixty-five combatants have been killed in fighting after Yemen's Huthi rebels renewed an offensive on Marib, the last government stronghold in the country's oil-rich north, a military official said Thursday. The Iran-backed rebels attacked pro-government positions south of the strategic city, making progress despite losing dozens of fighters in coalition air strikes. It was the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-81457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n