...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
's internationally recognized government and their United Arab Emirates-backed allies swept through a strategic central province, forcing Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels out of its second largest district, officials said Wednesday.
The development in Marib province is another setback for the Iranian-backed Houthis, who for a year attempted to take control of the oil-rich province. Their offensive crumbled when the UAE-backed Giants Brigades helped reclaim the nearby Shabwa province earlier this month before advancing in Marib under air cover from the Saudi-led coalition.
Government forces and the Giants retook the district of Harib and its center south of Marib city after nearly two weeks of fighting, pushing their way to the nearby district of Juba, said Brig. Abdou Megali, a military front man. The Houthis had taken the two districts last year, part of their offensive on Marib.
Fighting also raged between government forces and the Houthis elsewhere including in the provinces of Jawf and Taiz, he added.
The Giants posted footage purportedly showing their forces roaming through what they said was the center of Harib. Other footage showed fighters on armored vehicles speeding in what they said were mountainous areas overlooking the district.
Two other military officials from inside the coalition also said the district had been taken. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
In a decree for local authorities, Marib's provincial governor Sheikh Sultan al-Aradah ordered the restoration of all services in the district, which he said the Houthis disrupted when they took it in September.
Houthi spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The recent escalation of ground fighting has coincided with intense Houthi cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...and the UAE, as well as heavy coalition
...
KABOOM!...
s on the rebel-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
The Houthi military media reported dozens of coalition airstrikes on Sanaa and elsewhere in Yemen over the past 24 hours. The rebels said there were at least 20 airstrikes overnight on Sanaa alone.
The ongoing battlefield setbacks prompted Brig. Yahia Sarei, a Houthi military front man, threatened further attacks on the UAE.
The Houthis have made Marib city their main target for the past three years. They first retook town after town in the neighbouring province, before finally reaching the outskirts of the city itself. But their hopes in capturing it diminished when the UAE-backed forces joined the festivities, shifting the tide of the conflict.