Houthi rebels inch closer to capturing Yemeni oil fields

The Iran-backed Houthi militia has deployed additional reinforcements to the Yemeni city of Marib, which is situated in an energy rich area of gas and oil reserves. Houthi rebels backed by Iran have been fighting for Marib and have faced stiff resistance from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

The Saudi military said on Tuesday that it had launched a barrage of airstrikes in the area that had killed 115 rebels. Last week, the Houthi group achieved on-ground military progress and managed to capture the centre of Al Jubah's district in the southern part of Marib and other nearby key areas, after days of deadly fighting with the Yemeni government forces.

The city is already preparing for a possible siege, with as many as 3 million residents and an additional 1 million refugees from the fighting left at risk. For six years, Saudi Arabia led coalition has battled rebels, who have captured key parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.

"If the Houthis move through the desert towards oil and gas fields east of Marib City they will be easy prey for coalition warplanes, so they will try to encircle the city from three fronts, but we can withstand and break them," a military commander, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

Erin Hutchinson, country director of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Yemen said that the conflict was dire and that many people had been left injured and starving than in previous two years of the conflict. Starving Yemenis have been pouring across the borders and into refugee camps in other countries with no guarantee for the future.