Fighting between coalition forces, Houthi rebels

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(13 Sep 2015) Arab coalition forces and their local supporters fought with Houthi militias in Yemen’s contested Marib province on Sunday.
On Sunday alone, 25 fighters from both sides of the conflict were killed as Yemeni and coalition troops advanced, cutting off multiple Houthi supply lines, according to pro-government and independent security officials, as well as local tribal leaders.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said a total of 52 of its soldiers – seven more than the 45 it earlier acknowledged – were killed in the September 5 Houthi rebel missile attack, also in Marib province.
It was the heaviest military loss for the UAE since it was founded in 1971.
The soldiers were deployed as part of the Saudi-led coalition.
Emirati leaders haven’t said how many of the country’s ground troops are inside the country.
Yemen’s conflict pits an array of forces against the Houthi rebels, who are allied with security forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The conflict has killed more than 4,000 people, leaving the Arab world’s poorest country in the grip of a humanitarian crisis and on the brink of famine.
Recent attempts to end the conflict at the negotiating table have been fruitless.
Yemen’s internationally-recognised president will take part in UN-brokered talks with Shiite rebels who control the capital and much of the country’s north later this week.
A statement said there would be no talks with the rebels, known as Houthis, unless they accepted a UN resolution that obliges them to withdraw from areas they seized and surrender weapons taken from state institutions.
The announcement came as President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government, currently in self-exile in Saudi Arabia, is making preparations to return to the port city of Aden at the end of this month following the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, two senior Yemeni government officials said.