At least 80 Houthi fighters have been killed in fierce clashes with Yemeni government forces outside the central city of Marib, according to a senior army officer, as the Iran-backed militia intensifies attacks aimed at seizing the energy-rich city. Brig. Gen. Yahya Al-Hatemi, director of the Yemeni army’s military media department, told Arab News on Sunday that heavy fighting had erupted over the previous 24 hours between government forces, backed by warplanes and drones, and the Houthis in areas south of Marib, including Hareb, Mala’a, and Um Raish. He said government forces had repelled the attacks, killing more than 80 Houthi fighters and destroying nine military vehicles. “The Houthis suffered more than 80 fatalities, the rest fled, and nine combat vehicles were destroyed,” Al-Hatemi said. Warplanes also struck Houthi positions across the front lines in Marib province, targeting gatherings of fighters, military reinforcements and fortified positions, the Yemeni army said. Marib city hosts Yemen’s largest concentration of internally displaced people, with more than 2 million having sought refuge there over the past decade after fleeing fighting or Houthi repression. The city is also home to oil and gas fields as well as a major power station. Thousands of civilians and fighters have been killed or wounded during successive Houthi offensives aimed at capturing Marib, none of which succeeded in taking the city. The Houthis halted their major offensive following a UN-brokered truce that came into effect in April 2022. Al-Hatemi said heavy strikes by Yemeni government forces over the past 24 hours had forced Houthi fighters to retreat from positions outside Marib. Meanwhile, the Houthis held funeral processions on Saturday for at least 50 fighters, including several high-ranking officers, in Sanaa, Amran, Hodeidah, and other Houthi-controlled areas. The fighters were reported to have been killed on the battlefield. Al-Hatemi claimed that the losses publicly acknowledged by the Houthis represented less than 10 percent of their actual battlefield deaths. He estimated that between 300 and 500 Houthi fighters were being killed each day and accused the militia of concealing the true toll to avoid undermining morale. “The Houthis show no regard for the death toll, viewing their fighters as expendable — sacrificial pawns treated as worthless slaves — with their sole priority being the achievement of their objectives,” he said. Elsewhere, the Yemeni army in Taiz said it had seized control of Nouman Mountain, west of the city, following clashes with the Houthis in the surrounding mountainous areas. Following recent military gains along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast, including in Mokha and areas around Bab Al-Mandab, the Houthis have launched attacks on Yemeni government positions in the mountainous Al-Madaribah Wa Al-Aarah district of Lahj province, as well as other locations in Taiz province overlooking the strategic strait, in an attempt to consolidate their gains. The government’s Nation’s Shield Forces said on Sunday that they had repelled a Houthi attack and shot down a drone near Kahboub Mountain in Al-Madaribah Wa Al-Aarah. For almost a week, Yemeni government forces, including the Giants Brigades and Nation’s Shield Forces, backed by local tribesmen, have been battling repeated Houthi assaults on Kahboub Mountain. Capturing the mountain would give the Houthis a strategic position overlooking Bab Al-Mandab and could pave the way for a potential offensive toward the southern city of Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government. Meanwhile, Yemeni army spokesperson Col. Majed Al-Nuzaili said the army’s air force had struck Houthi personnel and military equipment in the central province of Al-Bayda.