Yemen- Coalition in 'slow but sure' push to Sanaa

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A Saudi-led coalition is making slow but steady progress five days into a major offensive towards the rebel-held capital of Yemen, a coalition source said yesterday.

Giving a rare update on the fighting in Marib province, east of Sanaa, the source said "things are going slowly but surely."

Coalition-supported forces backing exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi began their push on Sunday against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and allied troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Taking Marib, in central Yemen, would allow the coalition to move on Sanaa, which the Houthis seized last year.

"The battle will not enter its decisive phase yet," because the coalition seeks to minimise its casualties, the source said.

The bulk of coalition troops are massed about 50km from Marib city waiting for "zero hour", when they will move on the provincial capital, he said.

In the meantime, the coalition is targeting rebel supply lines to Sanaa and the Houthi stronghold of Saada in the far north.

"Progress occurred this morning north of Marib dam," several kilometres from Marib city, where howitzers, fighter jets and helicopters targeted resistance, the source said.

"The battle to restore Marib is a vital operation because it will be the beginning of a quick end" to the Houthis' control, he added.

Months of coalition air strikes have failed to dislodge the Houthis from territory they had seized in Yemen.

But the insurgents began to lose ground in July when the coalition sent in armour, troops and Yemeni fighters trained in Saudi Arabia. An analyst has estimated the coalition has more than 5,000 troops in Yemen, supporting local forces.

The Marib offensive began after an early-September missile strike on a coalition base in the province killed 67 coalition soldiers, including 52 from the United Arab Emirates.

Shelling from across the border in Yemen killed three people in Saudi Arabia yesterday and wounded 28, the civil defence agency said.

The agency described the deceased as residents of the Saudi border district of Jazan, while Saudi news channel Al Ekhbaria said they were foreigners.

The civil defence added that four Saudis were among the wounded, without giving the nationalities of the others.

Al Ekhbaria showed pictures of blast-damaged cars and shrapnel-punctured walls.

The attack brings to at least 64 the number of people killed in Saudi Arabia from border shelling and skirmishes since the coalition campaign began six months ago.

Most of the border casualties have been soldiers.

The United Nations says nearly 4,900 people have been killed since late March in Yemen, where the UN aid chief has called the scale of human suffering "almost incomprehensible".

At least 14 pro-government troops were killed when a coalition air raid targeted their position "by mistake", tribal and military sources said yesterday.

"The air force bombed a gathering of fighters in the region of Harib believing them to be Houthi rebels," a military source said.

A tribal chief confirmed the overnight strike, saying that those killed appeared to be local tribesmen fighting on the side of the forces loyal to Hadi.