Houthis fire four ballistic missiles at Marib as fighting hits Lahj

MARIB, Yemen — Yemen's Houthi group fired four ballistic missiles at the government-held city of Marib late on Monday, local authorities and military officials said. The army also reported repelling a separate Houthi assault in the south, in Lahj governorate.

Marib's local government said the missiles targeted the densely populated city, which hosts large numbers of displaced people. The authorities gave no immediate details on casualties or damage.

The army said its forces had repelled a Houthi assault on the Kahbub front in the western part of Lahj. The army-affiliated Southern Giants Brigades said in a statement that Houthi fighters launched successive waves of attacks, triggering hours of clashes involving various weapons. Backed by the Saudi-led coalition, government forces forced the attackers to retreat, according to the statement. The brigades said Houthi fighters were killed and wounded and that military equipment was destroyed. The source does not give independent confirmation of these losses.

The Houthi group has not commented on the reports in the sources reviewed for this story.

A Telegram channel run by Al Arabiya said in a post that clashes were intensifying between government forces and the Houthis on several fronts. The post described the operation as "Dawn of Yemen" and said it was continuing. The channel did not provide details, and the claim has not been confirmed by a news outlet or official statement.

It is not clear from the sources whether the Marib and Lahj attacks were linked. The sources also do not say whether any further strikes have followed.

Background

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several governorates in 2014. The following year, a Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of the internationally recognised government.

According to Anadolu Agency, the latest fighting began in July, when a 2022 UN-brokered truce broke down.

The attacks on Marib follow earlier reports. A day before Monday's attack, local authorities reported that the Houthis had fired eight ballistic missiles at Marib, without giving information on possible losses. On 15 October, the governorate reported a Houthi attack involving nine ballistic missiles and seven other projectiles targeting residential neighbourhoods.

Marib is a major government stronghold and an oil and gas production hub. According to government figures, it is home to more than 2.2 million displaced people.