Houthi attacks kill five in Yemen as rebels target oil-rich Marib

DUBAI, Aug 7: Houthi attacks on Yemen's Marib province killed at least five people Friday, according to a minister and military source, as the rebels escalate strikes on the oil-rich region a day after their deadliest attack in years.

The latest violence has raised the spectre of a return to war in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, where a 2022 truce between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government had largely held before unravelling last month.

A Houthi drone strike in Marib killed three members of government forces, a Yemeni military source told AFP, while the health minister for the Saudi-backed government said the rebels shelled residential areas and displacement camps in Marib city, killing at least two civilians and injuring 14 others.

A separate source close to the Saudi military told AFP that the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government since 2015 would not stand "idly by" as the Houthis step up their attacks, adding that Marib was a "red line".

He warned that "the coalition does not seek escalation, but we will not allow the current balance of power on the ground to be changed".

Riyadh would not accept a Houthi takeover of Marib, he said, adding that he believed the rebels were seeking to launch an offensive in the province.

The health minister QasimBuhaibeh said in a post on X that "shelling by the terrorist Houthi militia today, Friday, targeting residential neighbourhoods and displacement camps in the city of Marib, has resulted -- according to an initial toll -- in the deaths of two civilians and injuries of varying severity to 14 others".�" AFP