Marib

Yemen Review section November 14, 2022 08:44 MIN October 2022 Houthis Attack Oil Ports Houthi drone and missile strikes on government-controlled oil ports in mid-October marked the first significant post-truce military escalation, although neither the government nor the Houthis immediately launched major ground offensives. Fighting along frontlines nationwide after the truce ended October 2 occurred in southwestern Yemen, in Taiz, Lahj and Hudaydah governorates. In their troop movements and fortification of positions, both sides appeared to be preparing for the ground war to intensify. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, meanwhile, sent more weapons to their respective clients. No casualties or damage were reported from the October 18-21 Houthi strikes on the Nushayma oil terminal and Al-Dabba port, but the prospect of further attacks in and outside Yemen paralyzed oil exports for more than three… Continue reading Editorial September 8, 2022 03:50 MIN August 2022 Saving the Truce The five-month-old truce in Yemen has been a net good for Yemenis and preserving it should be a priority. After more than seven years of ruinous war, the truce has brought the relief of quiet frontlines, the suspension of air strikes, the reopening of the port of Hudaydah for fuel shipments, and the resumption of civilian air flights in and out of the capital. Still, it has been far from perfect. There have been a host of small-scale skirmishes and surreptitious movements of men and equipment, particularly around Taiz and Marib. On August 25-26, Houthi forces launched an attack in Taiz in an attempt to seize the last major government-controlled road into the city, prompting the internationally recognized authorities to… Continue reading The Yemen Review March 3, 2022 279:55 MIN The Graveyard of Hubris – Yemen Annual Review 2021 Through most of 2021, the armed Houthi movement appeared unstoppable. As their forces pushed relentlessly toward Marib city, the fall of the last government stronghold in the north began to seem inevitable. Rich in oil and gas, its loss would be a mortal blow to the spiraling economy and political legitimacy of the internationally recognized government. Along frontlines across the country, Houthi forces either held their ground or advanced, showing a cohesiveness, discipline and effectiveness unmatched by the motley array of armed groups opposing them. Houthi drones and ballistic missiles flew across the border into Saudi Arabia, and continued even in the face of retaliatory airstrikes, heightening the cost of conflict for the coalition. Houthi military efforts were buttressed by… Continue reading Analysis January 27, 2022 33:23 MIN The Impact of War on Civil Society Organizations in Marib By Mehdi Balghaith, and Sadam al-Adwar Nestled in central Yemen and bordering several other major governorates, including the capital Sana’a, Marib has stood out as the main engine of the country’s economy in recent decades. However, despite its oil and gas wealth, the governorate remained impoverished due to a policy of marginalization adopted by the government of late president Ali Abdullah Saleh, depriving it of basic infrastructure, development and economic projects. Among the repercussions of this policy was a lack of civil society organizations (CSOs) to support residents in the absence of government services. Prior to 2011, local CSOs were few in number. Some were only semi-active, leaving just a few organizations operating, unsustainably, in the fields of development, charity and cooperation. Following the outbreak of… Continue reading Analysis November 4, 2021 19:42 MIN How Outsiders Fighting for Marib are Reshaping the Governorate By Casey Coombs, and Salah Ali Salah Marib governorate has emerged as a pivotal battleground between the armed Houthi movement on one hand, and the internationally recognized government and their respective allies on the other. The opposing forces are pressing with all of their might to achieve military victories in Marib, knowing that the outcome of the battle for the governorate holds the potential to decisively change the national balance of power. In the early months of Yemen’s civil war, Marib emerged as a safe haven for internally displaced people (IDPs) fleeing Houthi-controlled areas. Marib’s small pre-war population of about 400,000 is estimated to have grown to between 1.5 million and 3 million people, with the bulk of the new arrivals settling in the capital, Marib city.… Continue reading Analysis October 13, 2021 06:03 MIN The Houthis’ Fatal Military Success By Abdulghani Al-Iryani Seven years into the Yemen war, nearly everyone has come to accept what was obvious from the start: foreign military interventions carry within them the seeds of their own failure. The arrogance of the intervening powers humiliates and demoralizes their local partners and clients. The intervening powers are often most comfortable dealing with the most compliant and easily manipulated of their local partners, thereby creating a selection process in which the least patriotic and the most corrupt often become the partners of choice. The arrogance of the intervening powers and the corruption of their local clients are frequently the two most powerful weapons in the arsenal of the parties resisting the intervention. This is the basic formula that has determined… Continue reading The Yemen Review July 14, 2021 94:51 MIN Eye on the East – The Yemen Review, June 2021 Through periods of tolerance and persecution, marginalization has remained a constant in the treatment of racial and religious minorities in Yemeni society. During the ongoing conflict, however, violence and subjugation against these marginalized groups has increased dramatically, to the point that it is fundamentally reshaping Yemeni society. For Yemen as we know it to continue to exist it needs to assure the existence of its minorities, as something fundamental to the makeup of a nation dies when its minorities perish. Yemen’s Jewish community, with a history tracing back millennia, played a foundational role in developing Yemeni culture and commerce, and creating much of the artisanal industries for which the country is known. While the community had already been dwindling in… Continue reading News May 10, 2021 02:33 MIN Director of the Office of the President of Yemen: We are ready for direct negotiations with the Houthis Director of the Office of the President of Yemen, Abdullah Al-Alimi, said during the Yemen Media Call – a media briefing session organized by the Sana’a Center– that Yemen’s internationally recognized government was ready to go into direct negotiations with the armed Houthi movement, adding that it was also in favor of reopening Sana’a airport as well the port of Hudaydah as part of a Houthi ceasefire. He added that the government was not represented in the recent Muscat meetings, and said that the armed Houthi movement insists on escalating hostilities in Marib and politicizing the humanitarian file. He also accused the Houthis of thwarting recent negotiations led by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths and US Special Envoy… Continue reading Analysis May 4, 2021 15:04 MIN Tribes and the State in Marib By Ahmed Al-Tars Al-Arami For most of Yemen’s modern history, the tribes of Marib have largely been perceived as hostile toward the state. This perception, however, has been turned on its head since the armed Houthi movement seized the capital Sana’a in 2014, after which the group set its eyes on neighboring Marib. In response, Marib’s tribes have emerged as the last line of defense against Houthi attempts to capture the strategic governorate from the internationally recognized government. Alongside the positive role the tribes have played in ensuring Marib’s stability, a noticeable change has emerged in tribal views toward the Yemeni state and its interests. Rather than viewing the state with suspicion and hostility, the tribes have become a critical force in maintaining whatever… Continue reading Analysis March 19, 2021 13:18 MIN A View From the Ground: Will the Battle for Marib Determine Yemen’s Fate? By Maged Al-Madhaji The Road to Marib Fighting on the outskirts of the city of Marib escalated once again in February as Houthi forces launched a renewed offensive to seize the internationally-recognized government’s last stronghold in northern Yemen. I decided to go to Marib in March, to check in on the Sana’a Center team in the governorate and witness for myself what was happening in this critical battle. I called a friend in Marib and asked him to arrange for a car to pick me up at Seyoun airport, about 500 kilometers to the east in Hadramawt governorate. This was to avoid using transportation services provided by private companies, which have flourished during the conflict and are used by various parties to know… Continue reading Analysis March 19, 2021 07:08 MIN Marib and the Closing Bell of the Yemen War By Abdulghani Al-Iryani As fighting intensified in Marib during the month of February, along with signs of escalation on other fronts across the country, I am hopeful. The risk of an outright victory by the armed Houthi movement over everyone else, and over the chance of peace among equals that could keep Yemen in one piece, has finally triggered a series of events that could make peace possible. Let me explain this counterintuitive notion. For several years, I have been speaking about five obstacles to peace in Yemen. The first is the war economy. The collapse of the Yemeni state, and the extraordinary conditions of war, have made it possible for people in the right places to profit in ways they could never… Continue reading Analysis March 17, 2021 04:48 MIN Washington’s Lack of Options in Marib By Charlotte Kamin Just days after the Biden administration reversed the Trump-era designation of the Houthi movement as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), the armed group renewed its military campaign to take over the strategic city of Marib. As the Yemeni national army backed by resistance fighters and local tribes fights to fend off the offensive, Saudi Arabia has carried out airstrikes and redeployed military hardware to repel the Houthi onslaught. President Biden and his new special envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, have condemned the Houthi attack on Marib, stressing the need for diplomatic solutions to bring the interminable Yemen conflict to an end. Strongly worded statements, however, are unlikely to change the reality on the ground. The US and international community cannot… Continue reading