Conflict in Yemen's Marib region causes hundreds to escape

 

According to the UN International Organization for Migration, hundreds of Yemenis have been evicted from their homes in the central region of Marib as the Houthis continue to assault government forces.

Over the past ten days, fierce fighting between Yemeni forces and the Houthis has taken place in the Merkhah Al-Ulya region, in the southern province of Shabwa, and the Harib district, south of Marib. Scores of fighters have been killed or wounded.

The IOM stated that 2,030 families (12,180 people) had been relocated to various Yemeni regions since January, while 235 families (1,410 people) had been uprooted between March 19 and March 25 in Marib, Hodeidah, and Taiz.

A UN-mediated cease-fire that went into effect in April of last year led to a significant drop in fighting on the country's battlefields, especially in Marib, as well as a significant drop in domestic displacement and civilian fatalities.

However, recent Houthi assaults on government forces in Harib and the first time in a year on allies in Merkhah Al-Ulya have dashed expectations for a peace agreement to put an end to the war.

The Shabwa Defense Forces of the government claimed on Tuesday that they had shot down a rebel drone and repelled a Houthi attack in Merkhah Al-Ulya.

In the meantime, representatives from the Houthis and the Yemeni government have declared that they will start swapping hundreds of prisoners on April 11 as part of a three-day exercise run by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The last round of prisoner swap negotiations, which concluded on March 20 in Switzerland, resulted in an agreement from both parties to transfer 887 prisoners during the fasting month of Ramadan.

According to the agreement, the Yemeni government would exchange 181 of its own prisoners—including a former defence minister, four journalists who had been given the death penalty by the Houthis, and 19 alliance prisoners—for 706 Houthi detainees.