A Saudi-led coalition said Wednesday it killed more than 82 Huthi rebels in airstrikes near Yemen’s strategic city of Marib, during the second week of intense reported bombing, IgbereTV reports.
The Iran-backed Huthis rarely comment on losses, and the numbers could not be independently verified by AFP.
This is the tenth consecutive day that the coalition has announced strikes around Marib, reporting a total of around 1,300 rebel fatalities.
Most of the previously announced strikes were in Abdiya about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Marib — the internationally recognised government’s last bastion in oil-rich northern Yemen.
“Operations targeted 11 military vehicles and killed more than 82 terrorist elements” in the past 24 hours in the districts of Al-Jawba and Al-Kassara, the coalition fighting in Yemen said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
Al-Jawba lies about 50 kilometres south of the city and Al-Kassara is about 30 kilometres northwest.
According to a government military official on Wednesday, the Huthis have made “small advances” in Al-Jawba amid clashes with loyalist troops.
The Huthis began a major push to seize Marib in February and have renewed their offensive since September after a lull
