A new attempt by the Houthi militia to resolve the battle of Marib
English - Saturday 02 October 2021 الساعة 05:16 pm
Marib, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
The fronts of the Al-Juba District, south of Marib, are witnessing the fiercest battles, after the Houthi group sent huge human reinforcements, which reflects its final decision to resolve the battle, regardless of the human cost.
The enthusiasm shown by Iran’s arm in Yemen, to resolve the battle in Al-Juba, is due to the military gains that it sees that it will reap in the event of its control over it, and perhaps it will resolve its battle in Marib, which will establish a new scene in Yemen, as you see it.
The Houthi group realizes that al-Jouba is the stronghold of the Murad tribe, one of the most powerful tribes in Ma’rib, and the difficult number in the battle there, as it represents the penultimate geographical barrier that separates it from the city of Ma’rib.
The fierce attack launched by the group on al-Juba comes with the entry into its seventh month of the massive battle it launched to control Marib, without achieving its goal of controlling the city and reaching the oil and gas fields in Safer.
Its militias failed to resolve the battle by achieving any significant penetration in the northern and western fronts of the city of Ma'rib, and although the Iranian media promised to control it during the last month of Ramadan, the battles during the past three months turned into hit-and-run battles.
This failure is due to many reasons, including the difficulty of the terrain and the abundance of dust that surrounds the city of Marib from the west, and in the north, the desert spaces separating between Marib and al-Jawf make the advance of the Houthi militia an easy target for coalition aircraft.
This explains the transfer of the Houthi group to the battle to the south, as a new attempt to reach the city of Marib and resolve the battle, facilitated by the Brotherhood, which opened the road for it to pass from Al-Bayda through the three Bayhan districts in Shabwa, then overthrow the Harib district and reach the heights overlooking Al-Juba.
However, there are those who believe that the Houthi militia's rush to the Juba district reflects a strategic change in the militia's plans, and that its real goal has become to encircle the city of Marib instead of storming it.
The recent attack by the militias towards al-Juba was preceded by the group’s disclosure of an initiative it presented to the Omani delegation around the city of Ma’rib, which is to share its revenues and manage it in exchange for not storming it militarily.
With the launch of the attack towards southern Marib, the group broadcast through one of its most prominent media leaders, Muhammad al-Imad, allegations that it had received an initiative by leaders in Marib from the Islah Party (the local arm of the Brotherhood in Yemen), not much different from the Houthi initiative presented to the Omani delegation.
The attack also coincides with the intensification of the group’s leaders sending messages to the Ma’rib tribes, especially the Murad tribe, via social media, urging them to respond to its initiative to stop the attack in exchange for sharing oil and gas revenues and disengaging them from the coalition, which reflects the group’s awareness of the difficulty of resolving the battle militarily and its high cost.
