ADEN // Loyalist Yemeni forces backed by air cover, weaponry and troops from a Saudi-led coalition launched a fierce offensive in Marib province on Sunday to push Houthi rebels out of the capital and other areas they have seized.

“This battle is not a battle for Marib, rather it is the battle for Sanaa,” said Yemeni army Brigadier General Murad Turaiq, commander of loyalist Yemeni troops in Marib and Al Bayda provinces.

Brig Gen Turaiq told The National that troops from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the two key members of the coalition, were on the front lines of the offensive, which had already recaptured several rebel-held areas of Marib.

“We took over Al Masaree hill, Al Gofainah, Al Gas, Muz, Maher hill, Al Ablaq and several other areas from where the rebels used to target civilians,” he said.

“I think these forces will advance towards Al Jawf and then Sanaa, but there are no orders yet to advance towards Sanaa.”

Marib lies to the east of Sanaa, while Al Jawf lies to the north and adjoins Saada province, the Houthis’ stronghold.

Most of Marib is controlled by fighters and armed tribes allied with the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, but the Iran-backed rebels and renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh hold parts of the province.

The rebel-run Saba news agency reported that the insurgents had “repelled an advance backed by Apache helicopters and Saudi and Emirati armoured vehicles” in Jufeinah city in Marib, but Saudi Brig Gen Ahmed Al Asiri, spokesman for the coalition, said the operation had “just started” and was “going as planned”.

The offensive comes just over a week after a Houthi missile attack on a coalition camp in Marib killed 52 soldiers from the UAE, 10 from Saudi Arabia and five from Bahrain, and two days after rebel rockets killed at least 20 civilians at a market in Marib city.

The attack on the market, in which women and children were among the victims, “motivated us to start the evacuation of the Houthis from Marib”, Brig Gen Turaiq said.

Coalition warplanes intensified their raids after the attack on the Marib camp, hitting bases and weapon depots in Sanaa and other rebel-held areas.

The coalition has been building up its forces in Marib for months, bringing in weaponry and personnel in preparation for a final push against the rebels after helping to liberate Aden and four other southern provinces since July.

Aden was Mr Hadi’s last refuge after the Houthis overran Sanaa last September. He fled into exile in Saudi Arabia as the rebels and allied army units advanced on the port city in late March.

In response, the coalition launched an air campaign against the Houthis and began providing weapons and training to loyalist fighters. Troops from the UAE took part in the liberation of Aden and have been assembling in Marib along with forces from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt.

The region’s Wadia border crossing with Saudi Arabia has seen reinforcements flow into Yemen in recent weeks in preparation for the offensive to retake Sanaa.

The attack launched on Sunday is the “largest and fiercest offensive since operations began in Marib province”, according to a military official in in Hadramawt province, east of Marib.

It aims to “regain control of the provinces of Marib and Jawf, as well as of Sanaa”, the official said following a military parade in Al Aber city, about 270 kilometres east of Marib city.

General Samir Shamfan, commander of the 23rd Mechanised Brigade based in Al Aber, said about 12,000 soldiers have been assembled in the city.

Mohammed Bohaibeh, resident of Marib who has fought against the Houthis, said people in the province were very happy with the new offensive as they believe it will be the last. “Even if the fighting is very heavy and planes hover all the time over the province, we need a decisive war that ends the conflict in Marib and returns us to normal life,” he said.

“If the coalition forces want to reach to Sanaa, Marib is the best way for it, and I think that is why the forces started the battle from here,” he said.

foreign.desk@thenational.ae

* With reporting from Agence France-Presse