Yemeni government forces say they have repelled Houthi assaults in Marib, as the armed group said strikes on a village in Sanaa province had killed at least 27 people.
In a statement on Saturday, government forces said troops backed by warplanes and drones had fought for hours to halt Houthi advances in Marib province, destroying fortifications and combat equipment.
It said troops were also pushing into Houthi-held areas of al-Jawf province, where fighting entered a third consecutive day as part of the “Dawn of Yemen” operation launched more than a month ago by the internationally recognised government, to take control of territory from Houthi fighters.
In a separate statement, government forces spokesman, Colonel Majed al-Nazili, said the army had carried out 875 attacks on Houthi positions on Saturday, “neutralising” about 130 Houthi commanders and fighters and destroying or disabling 50 vehicles and missile launchers.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claims.
‘Two narratives’
Also on Saturday, a series of strikes killed at least 27 people and wounded about 30 others in Sanaa province, the Houthi-run Saba news agency reported.
Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Sanaa-based Ministry of Health, said the attacks struck al-Shariya village, north of the capital. He said most of the casualties were women and children.
The Iran-backed Houthis – also known as Ansar Allah, Arabic for Supporters of God – blamed the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government forces for the attack. The President of the armed group’s Supreme Political Council, Field Marshal Mahdi al-Mashat, vowed to “avenge” the attack.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the reports. Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government have not commented on the reported strikes.
The incident comes a day after the Houthis and Yemen’s government traded blame over a separate attack that killed civilians at a market in Taiz.
Reporting from Sanaa, Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry said the Houthis put the civilian death toll from the past two days at 55, blaming Saudi air strikes, while Yemeni government officials have held the Houthis responsible for most of the casualties.
“Two narratives are blaming each other and pointing the finger at each other, while this is taking a toll on civilian casualties,” Mawry said.
As fighting continues in Yemen, the Houthis separately claimed to have launched six attacks on Saudi targets using ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, but did not say when the attacks were carried out.
The group said it had targeted King Khalid international airport and oil facilities in Riyadh, an oil site in Khurais, an oil pumping station in Dawadmi, a National Guard camp in Najran and what it described as Saudi troop gatherings in Yemen’s al-Jawf and Marib provinces.
Colonel Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-backed coalition supporting Yemen’s government forces, said early on Saturday that they had shot down a Houthi ballistic missile over the Riyadh region.
