The Yemeni army said it has retaken new areas south of Marib province in central Yemen after fierce clashes with Iran-backed Houthi rebels over the past 24 hours.

“Units of the army and the Popular Resistance forces launched a ground offensive attack and managed to [take] the positions of Yameen Al Raddah and Al Faliha where the Iran-backed Houthi militia was stationed,” the Yemeni army's media centre said.

It also said the overnight attack left a number of Houthi fighters dead and wounded and destroyed and damaged military vehicles and combat equipment belonging to the rebels.

‘The battle will be resolved soon’

Earlier on Monday, the Yemeni Army Chief of Staff Saghir bin Aziz said the armed forces, with the support of the Saudi-led coalition, would “soon resolve the battle against the Houthi militia”.

Fighting intensified on the ground in Marib late on Monday after the army and the pro-government militias attacked on three fronts in the southern and western parts of the province in the country's north-east.

Since February 2021, the rebels have intensified their attacks on Marib, which is rich in oil and gas, despite several international and UN warnings on the dangers faced by thousands of displaced people living in the province.

Currently, up to 3 million people live in the city of Marib, including about a million who fled from Houthi advances in other areas in Yemen.

The Houthis were behind deadly cross-border attacks against the UAE in recent weeks after suffering a series of battlefield defeats at the hands of Emirati-trained pro-government forces.

Yemen's civil war broke out in 2014 when the Iran-backed rebels seized Sanaa, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene a year later to prop up the internationally recognised government.