ADEN // The battle against Houthi rebels in Marib province is narrowing to two key areas as pro-government press their campaign to retake the Yemeni capital.

On the fourth day of the offensive to liberate Saana, the Houthis were massed in Sirwah district in western Marib, which has been besieged by loyalist forces since Sunday, and near the Mas military base on Marib’s northern border with Al Jawf province, which is under rebel control.

“The Houthis withdrew from several areas and gathered inside Mas camp ... that is why the coalition forces and the popular resistance went towards this camp this morning,” Mohammed Al Gadasi, a journalist based in Marib, told The National on Wednesday.

He said the location of the camp allows the rebels to bring in reinforcements from Al Jawf.

“Mas Camp is now under the siege of the coalition and popular resistance, and there is only one road leading to this camp from Al Gida’an area, which is near Al Jawf. If the loyalists can capture Al Gida’an, then they can easily drive the Houthis out of the camp,” he said.

Ahmed Obaid, a retired Yemeni army officer in his 60s, said controlling Marib and Al Jawf was essential for the pro-government forces, comprising the Yemeni military, loyalist tribal fighters and troops from the Saudi Arabia-led coalition that is seeking to restore the government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

“The coalition forces and the Popular Resistance in Marib should secure Marib and Al Jawf provinces before Sanaa as they cannot go towards Sanaa and leave their rear exposed to the Houthis,” he said.

If the pro-government forces directly attack Sanaa then the Houthis will besiege them around the capital, he said.

“The Popular Resistance of Marib know the importance of Al Jawf and those who say that the battle should start in Sanaa before Al Jawf are wrong.”

Meanwhile, fighting continued around Marib’s Sirwah district, with loyalist forces advancing slowly because of landmines laid by the rebels, said Brigadier General Murad Turaiq of the Yemeni army.

In Marib, loyalist forces have killed at least nine Houthi militants and captured five west of the provincial capital of the same name, military sources said.

Brig Gen Turaiq also confirmed that the coalition and army took over new areas near Sirwah

Meanwhile, coalition warplanes on Wednesday pounded rebel positions around Sanaa, including Al Dailami airbase near the airport, witnesses said.

Air strikes overnight targeted rebel posts north and south of the city, they said.

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition began an air campaign against the rebels and their allies including renegade forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in late March.

Pro-Hadi fighters, backed by Yemeni forces freshly trained and armed by Saudi Arabia, along with troops from the UAE, ejected the rebels from Aden in July and have since recaptured four other southern provinces.

The United Nations says nearly 4,900 people have been killed and some 25,000 wounded since late March, while 21 million out of Yemen’s population of 25 million have been affected by the conflict.

The National