AL-MUKALLA: The Iran-backed Houthis have laid siege to thousands of civilians inside a government-controlled area in the central province of Marib.
Intensifying fighting for the energy-rich city of Marib has killed dozens of combatants during the past 24 hours.
Local government officials told Arab News on Monday that the Houthis besieged Al-Abedia area, south of Marib province, after their forces scored a string of territorial gains following a rapid assault on government troops, preventing people, including the sick, from leaving or entering the area.
“We have not been able to deliver humanitarian assistance to the 5,106 besieged families and children as the militias blocked roads and prevented them from even leaving for medical treatment,” Khaled Al-Shajani, the head of Marib’s office of the internationally recognized government’s Executive Unit for IDPs Camps, told Arab News by telephone.
He urged international organizations and powerful countries to pressure the Houthis to lift their siege and stop military operations to allow civilians to leave their homes.
The government official said that more than 1,043 families had also left homes in Hareb district, southeastern Marib, and sheltered in the city of Marib since earlier this month. This was adding more pressure to the large displacement camps in Marib that host more than 2 million people, he said.
Local military officials and media reports said on Monday that heavy fighting broke out between the Houthis and government troops in Al-Mashjah, Al-Kasarah, Hareb, Jabal Murad and Serwah as the Houthis escalated ground attacks and artillery fire on government troops defending the city of Marib.
Dozens of combatants, most of them Houthis, have been killed in the fighting or in airstrikes by Arab coalition warplanes.
“There are martyrs from the national army, but the Houthi deaths are much bigger,” a military official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Arab News, noting that hundreds of Houthis have been killed since the weekend.
Yemeni officials say that they cannot put a number on Houthi deaths as most of the rebels are killed by the coalition’s warplanes behind the frontline or even before taking part in the fighting. The latest round of fierce fighting in Marib began in February when the Houthis renewed a major military offensive to seize control of the government’s last bastion in the densely populated northern half of the country.
The local authority in the northern province of Hajjah said that the death toll from the Houthi missile strike on a flame-lighting ceremony in Medi town on Saturday had risen to 12 people, including three military and security officials. The Houthis fired a ballistic missile on Saturday night at a gathering of government officials and civilians marking the 59th anniversary of the Sept. 26 revolution.
Another ballistic missile hit the city of Marib, destroying the house of the governor of Marib, Sultan Al-Arada.
The increase in fighting in Marib comes as government-controlled areas continue to record a high number of coronavirus infections.
The Aden-based national coronavirus committee on Monday announced 54 new cases, nine deaths and 42 recoveries in government-controlled areas, bringing the total number of cases to 8,988, including 1,703 deaths and 5,570 recoveries.
Houthis besiege thousands of civilians in Marib’s Al-Abedia
https://arab.news/24cnq
Houthis besiege thousands of civilians in Marib’s Al-Abedia
- Local government officials told Arab News that the Houthis besieged Al-Abedia area, south of Marib province
Aoun slams ‘systematic policy of aggression’ as Israeli strikes kill 2, wound journalists in south Lebanon escalation
- Lebanese Army: Attacks terrorize civilians and hinder weapons control plan
- Israeli army spokesperson said military eliminated Abu Ali Salameh, who served as a Hezbollah liaison officer in the area
- Israeli drones targeted sites with heavy airstrikes, wounding journalists in Qanarit and destroying their equipment, cameras and vehicles
BEIRUT: Two people were killed and several journalists wounded in a series of Israeli attacks on Wednesday targeting southern areas, most of which lie north of the Litani River.
The Lebanese Army Command described the escalation as “impeding the army’s efforts and hindering the completion of its plan to confine weapons to Lebanese territory.” It said that the strikes terrorized civilians, caused deaths and injuries, displaced dozens of families and undermined regional stability.
The day’s security situation was dominated by hours of Israeli escalation, including airstrikes and evacuation warnings targeting villages and populated areas ahead of further bombardment.
The Israeli army said that warplanes carried out precision strikes on civilian vehicles in Bazouriyeh, killing a Hezbollah member. A separate drone strike hit a civilian vehicle on the Zahrani-Mseileh road, killing one person, with Israel claiming the target was another Hezbollah operative.
Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said that the military “eliminated Abu Ali Salameh, who served as a Hezbollah liaison officer” in the village of Yanouh, in southern Lebanon. He accused Salameh of managing Hezbollah activities to “enable the group to operate within civilian areas and on private property, and to establish terrorist infrastructure in the heart of populated civilian areas, through the deliberate and cynical exploitation of the residents to serve Hezbollah’s objectives.”
Adraee claimed that on Dec. 13, Israel alerted Lebanon’s enforcement mechanism about a Hezbollah weapons depot in Yanouh. Salameh allegedly relayed the notification to other Hezbollah members, who then blocked Lebanese army access by staging a gathering while removing weapons from the site.
He said that Salameh also coordinated with the Lebanese army to falsely document the property as weapons-free, even as “suspicious boxes” were removed via a back entrance. Adraee called these actions a violation of Israel-Lebanon understandings, adding that “the Israeli army will continue to take measures to eliminate all threats.”
Israeli artillery also shelled the Harmoun area in the Bint Jbeil district, south of the Litani River, prompting Israeli army warnings — complete with maps — for residents of Qanarit, Kfour in Nabatieh and Jarjouh to evacuate immediately.
Israeli drones then hammered the sites with heavy airstrikes, wounding journalists in Qanarit and destroying their equipment, cameras and vehicles.
The Press Photographers Syndicate said: “Israeli claims of maintaining safe distances offer no protection, just as the warnings issued by the enemy to civilians offer no protection. It seems that cameras are not a red line.”
The statement urged photojournalists “to exercise caution and avoid turning their professional commitment into a reckless gamble.”
Civilians in the targeted areas reported receiving phone calls from Israel ordering them to clear squares, residential neighborhoods and a mosque.
The Lebanese Army Command confirmed that “Israeli attacks and violations targeted civilian buildings and homes in several areas, most recently in villages in the south, in a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and security, the cessation of hostilities agreement, and UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun issued a statement on Wednesday evening condemning the strikes and accused Tel Aviv of “pursuing a systematic policy of aggression” that targeted civilians and violated international humanitarian law, and constituted “a dangerous escalation.”
“This repeated aggressive behavior proves Israel’s refusal to abide by its commitments under the cessation of hostilities agreement and reflects a deliberate disregard for the efforts exerted by the Lebanese state to control the situation on the ground, maintain stability, and prevent the escalation of the confrontation,” he said.
He called on the international community — particularly the agreement’s sponsors — “to assume their legal and political responsibilities and take clear and effective measures to stop these violations and put an end to the policy of impunity.”
The escalation also came as Aoun reaffirmed his commitment to “monopolizing weapons in the hands of the state throughout all Lebanese territory.”
At a meeting of the Higher Supervisory Committee for Lebanon’s border protection program — attended by the US and Canadian ambassadors — Army Commander Gen. Rudolph Haykal stressed the army’s “absolute commitment” to securing borders but called for “qualitative military support” to tackle challenges on the northern and eastern fronts.
The army said that the ambassadors praised “its professionalism and success,” stressing the need to bolster the military institution to enhance its ability to maintain security nationwide. Lebanese military units are currently securing the northern and eastern borders with Syria to combat smuggling, weapons transfers and illegal infiltration.
