RIYADH: The Arab coalition said on Sunday that 165 Houthis had been killed and ten military vehicles destroyed in operations in Marib’s Abdiya district.
The coalition said it had carried out 41 operations targeting Houthis in Abdiya and surrounding villages during the last 24 hours.
Abdiya is a district in Yemen’s Marib which has been under a Houthi siege since Sept. 23, hindering the movement of civilians and impeding humanitarian aid flows.
The Houthis continue to carry out their terrorist operations against civilians and prevent medical aid from reaching patients in Abdiya, the coalition said.
On Saturday, the US called on the Houthis to stop their offensive on Marib, and listen to the urgent calls from across Yemen and the international community to bring this conflict to an end and support a UN-led inclusive peace process.
“The Houthis are obstructing movement of people and humanitarian aid, preventing essential services from reaching the 35,000 residents of Abdiya,” a US State Department statement said.
“The US urges the Houthis to immediately permit safe passage for civilians, life-saving aid, and the wounded. As the UN stated this week, it stands ready with its partners to provide this much needed assistance to the people of Marib,” the statement added.
The coalition announced on Saturday that it had killed 160 Houthis and destroyed 11 military vehicles in similar operations in Abdiya.
Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed held talks with the US envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking on Sunday to discuss the the Houthis’ ongoing escalation against civilians in Abdiya and the threat this poses to the peace process.
During a phone call, the two sides discussed the US support for the Yemeni government in implementing the Riyadh Agreement, and its role in mobilizing international funds to achieve economic stability and alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.
The prime minister praised the efforts made by the US envoy to Yemen, and briefed him on the government’s efforts to deal with various challenges, especially humanitarian and economic, and plans to deal with the declining national currency exchange rates
Lenderking renewed his country’s support for the government’s work from the interim capital, Aden, the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement, and UN efforts to bring peace to Yemen, stressing the need for the Houthi militia to stop its military attack on Marib, which he said interferes with peacemaking efforts.
He condemned the deliberate and repeated targeting of civilians, populated areas and displaced persons in Marib with ballistic missiles and drones.
In a separate call, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak also discussed the war crimes committed by the Houthi militia in Abdiya with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg.