AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The battle for Ma’rib these days is the central focus of the Yemen war, with all eyes being on its developments.
Latest reports from the battle of the Yemeni army and popular committees against mercenaries and militants loyal to the resigned Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi suggest that the Yemeni nationalist forces have tightened Ma’rib encirclement and repelled heavy push by the opposite side to retake what it lost over the past few days.
According to Yemeni media, heavy fighting continues around Al-Talaa Al-Hamra in western Ma’rib. Field sources also report of the Yemeni forces’ dominance of important positions in the chain of heights overlooking the city of Ma'rib from Al-Rak and Al-Zour on the west bank of the Ma'rib Dam to the area of Al-Talaa Al-Hamra and Al-Atif and Eidat Al-Ra'a districts in the north.
In an interview with Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Thursday, Major General Abdullah Hassan al-Jafari of Yemeni army said that the whole of Ma'rib province is under the control of the army and popular committees, and only Ma’rib the city is held by the Saudi mercenaries and terrorist groups.
“A short time separates us from its liberation,” he added
Explaining the latest situation on the battlefields in Ma'rib battlefronts, he said: "The army and the people's committees have made good progress from four fronts towards this city, liberating Al-Najd Al-Aswad, Al-Zour, Shab Al-Hamar, Al-Hifah, Wadi Arak, Qa'a Al-Manjura, Wadi Zanbah, Sanfah, and Al-Talaa Al-Hamra been in the latest advancements. "All these areas are five to seven kilometers away from Ma’rib city and so the city is encircled from all directions,” he added.
The army and popular committees have advanced three kilometers close to Al-Jafinah and Jabal Khashab military camps as the last defense lines of the city, he said, adding that Sahn Al-Jen, another military camp close to the city surrounded by mountains, hosts the biggest ammunition storage of the mercenaries.
But in addition to field advances, Lebanese-based Al Mayadeen news network reported on Thursday that a Yemeni ballistic missile had been fired and hit a gathering place of foreign commanders and soldiers, reportedly Saudi and British, in the city. The news network, citing military sources, held that “an explosion that shook Ma’rib took place in the Third Military Region in eastern Yemen.
“The Missile strike targeted a meeting of the Saudi-led coalition’s military commanders and officers in Ma’rib,” reported Al Mayadeen, describing the attack “precise” and leaving casualties among the commanders.
Saudi coalition resorts to ISIS, Al-Qaeda terrorist groups
The advances of the Yemeni army in Ma’rib province continue as the Saudi coalition, in order to escape defeat in the face of Yemeni popular resistance and the loss of the strategic province, has resorted to the terrorist groups of ISIS and Al-Qaeda, sending fighters from them to Ma’rib fronts. ISIS recently published a statement stating that it fights beside the Saudi aggression in the significant province.
Thousands of extremist elements from the provinces of Shabwa, Abyan, Hadhramaut, Aden, Lahij, Taiz, and the Western Coast have been recruited and dispatched to Ma’rib fronts to defend Riyadh’s last stronghold in northern Yemen, Al-Akhbar newspaper of Lebanon reported.
The Saudi alliance is likely to push the Yemen war to a sectarian mode in a bid to mobilize terrorist and takfiri fighters against the popular Ansarullah and army forces.
The US hypocritical game
The high possibility of Ma’rib capture by the Yemeni resistance fighters has prompted White House officials to counter Yemeni advances to make it clear that announcing the policy of ending support for the Saudi invasion of Yemen is mere political rhetoric, and that Washington continues to support Riyadh against Sanaa's forces. In recent days, US Special Envoy to Yemen Timothy A. Lenderking met with fugitive president’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, during which the latter urged Washington to continue pressure on Sanaa.
On Wednesday, Mohammad Abdelsalam, Ansarullah’s spokesman and chief negotiator, said that the fresh US stances are utter words and that the new administration has taken no practical steps to lift the ban on Ansarullah and end the war. “The US postures have been vacillating to the moment,” he was quoted as saying.
“The imposed blockade is in place on the US strength and we cannot be duped into believing fascinating comments which are not true,” he commented, adding: “The war against our country ends with concrete steps and not words and slogans. In our viewpoint, the hostile forces have incurred political, military, and humanitarian losses. The military solution has been imposed on us and whenever we sought peaceful solutions, we were surprised by Washington’s declaration of war.”
"Even the United Nations does not dare to condemn the siege against the Yemeni people, but we will not remain silent," said Mohammed Abdul Salam, noting that "the aggressors do not accept peaceful options." He said that the real peaceful option is to stop the aggression, not to prolong it. "The other side wants the war to continue, not to stop," he asserted.
How is Ma’rib significant in Yemen war and political future?
The war for the liberation of Ma'rib is very decisive, not only in this six-year aggression, but throughout the contemporary history of Yemen. Because the province has been under the mandate of Saudi Arabia for several decades. Ma’rib is oil-rich and an economic hub in the country and taking its control can help Sanaa weather a crucial part of the economic problems resulting from the sanctions.
Moreover, Ma'rib is the last stronghold of the fugitive Mansour Hadi in the north and with the capture of this province, Ansarullah will build a barrier between the provinces of Al-Jawf, Saada, Imran, and Sanaa. The capture of Ma’rib will make a direct threat to the neighboring oil provinces in the east, including Hadhramaut and Shabwa. Once the province falls to Ansarullah, the revolutionary movement will be expected to launch a push eastward mainly to Safer oilfields.
With Ma'rib capture, the balance of power in the war will change drastically in favor of Sanaa, because in this way Ansarullah will regain its control over the whole north over which it had control before the Operation Decisive Storm in March 2015, a development marking a big political and military defeat to the Saudi coalition.
From another dimension, Ma’rib’s fall will awaken the UAE and Southern Transitional Council (STC) motivation for departure from the political alliance with Mansour Hadi, marking another defeat to Ansarullah’s political rival. Ma’rib is the bastion of the Islah party as the representative of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen. This explains why the STC sent no militants to help save Ma’rib.
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