Houthis dispatch additional reinforcements to Yemen's Marib

Yemen's Houthi rebels have dispatched additional reinforcements to capture Marib after seizing key areas of the country's strategic oil-rich province from the government forces, a military official said.
"The rebels continued their military campaign and began preparations to push deeper into the densely populated city of Marib," the official told Xinhua news agency.

"Hundreds of pro-Houthi tribal fighters were mobilized from other northern provinces and began their engagement in the fighting against the government forces in various battlefronts of Marib," he said.

He noted that non-stop airstrikes launched by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition killed and injured scores of the Houthi rebels near the turbulent city of Marib during the last 24 hours.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Saudi-led military coalition declared in a brief press statement that 115 Houthi rebels were killed in airstrikes conducted around the government-controlled city of Marib.

Last week, the Houthi group achieved on-ground military progress and managed to capture the centre of Al Jubah's district in the southern part of Marib and other nearby key areas, after days of deadly fighting with the Yemeni government forces.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia began in February a major offensive on Marib with an attempt to seize control of the oil-rich province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government - IANS