Yemeni forces make rapid advances near Ma’rib

Yemeni forces make rapid advances near Ma’rib

The north of Ma’rib had on Thursday has witnessed rapid developments on the ground, in the course of fighting between Saudi-led coalition forces backed by al-Qaeda elements on the one hand, and Yemeni army forces on the other.

Local sources in Ma’rib province confirmed to the Yemen Press Agency that army forces and Popular Committees have made progress on the ground, during which they have been able to take control of some areas of the northern Al-Alam Al-Abyad front.

According to the sources, the army forces and Committees fought fierce battles against coalition forces and elements of terrorist organisations, during which they were able to counter a major advance carried out by the coalition from the direction of Al-Ruwaik camp, east of al-Alam, and from the al-Kanays area on the west side.

The coalition forces reportedly used Raybolt anti-tank missiles, recently sold by South Korea to the UAE, while the Yemeni army forces used homemade thermal missiles in addition to Kornet missiles from the Yemeni Armed Forces stockpile.

According to the sources, the Yemeni army’s drone aircraft bombed the coalition’s reinforcements coming from Al-Ruwaik camp, which resulted in the destruction of a Saudi-led military convoy.

The latest round of fighting comes after Yemeni forces were able to make more progress over the past two days, in the front north of Ma’rib city, and to counter coalition forces’ attacks towards the outskirts of Raghwan, Al-Nadhoud and Jabal Dahidah.