Marib, a key player in Yemen's war

The Yemeni government and the Houthis sealed the so-called Stockholm Agreement in December 2018, which sought to open the door to a broader pact for peace, but many of its points have not been implemented or respected, and one of its few results has been the exchange of prisoners of war between the two sides. The war in Yemen erupted after the Iranian-backed Houthis conquered large parts of the north and west of the country in 2014, and was internationalised by the intervention of a coalition of Sunni countries in March 2015 in support of the government of Abdo Rabu Mansur Hadi, now in exile in Saudi Arabia. 

The city of Marib is the last government stronghold in the north of the country and has oil and gas reserves. The city continues to witness bloody fighting between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces. Fighting has intensified in recent days, leaving 90 people dead in two days. The insurgents' offensive on Marib began in February after the US announced it was ending its support for the Riyadh-led alliance and removed the Houthis from its list of terrorist groups. 

Riyadh views the fighting in the north of its neighbouring country with particular concern, as a Houthi victory would pose a major threat to its home territory. The rebels have intensified their launching of explosive-laden drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia in recent months, although they have not recently resulted in casualties or significant material damage. These attacks usually target military or oil installations and airports near the Yemeni border, although on 13 June a drone bomb struck a school in Saudi Arabia, causing no casualties or injuries.

The Arab alliance reported a few days ago that air defences destroyed a drone launched by insurgents towards the city of Najran in southern Saudi Arabia and two others targeting the town of Jamis Mushait in the southwest. The other seven drone bombs destroyed were aimed at the southern region of the country, according to SPA. The rebel movement's military spokesman, Yehia Sarea, said on Twitter that a drone bomb was launched at an air base in Jamis Mushait and that "the impact was precise".

Both Sana'a airport and Yemen's main port, Al Hudeida, are in rebel hands, but blocked by the Saudi-led military coalition intervening in support of President Abdo Rabu Mansur Hadi's government, which has been in exile in Riyadh since 2015.

The UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, who is soon to leave his post, appeared for the last time before the Security Council after more than three years of trying to mediate between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels without being able to reach an agreement to stop the war and warning that the outlook for the country is "grim". In recent months, Griffiths has pushed for negotiations to try to reach a deal on four specific points: the opening of Sana'a airport to international traffic, the lowering of barriers to ships entering the country, a nationwide ceasefire and the start of a political process. Griffiths says that the leaders of the two sides have at times come close to taking the necessary steps, but time and again it has been the case that when one side is ready to compromise, the other is not. 

Both the Daesh jihadist group and al-Qaeda are active in Yemen's southern provinces and are fighting each other for control of territory, as well as carrying out attacks against security forces. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, created in 2009, reached its peak in 2015 and 2016, when it ran a proto-state in southern Yemen, but its presence has been diminished by drone attacks and infighting, in addition to the death of its leader, Qasem al-Rimi, last year.

More than six years have passed since the conflict erupted in Yemen. The humanitarian crisis in the country remains the largest in the world. Four million people have been displaced by the conflict in Yemen, a devastated country whose health services and food supplies have been fractured, according to UNHCR. As UN reports indicate, 22 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance, 8 million are at risk of famine and 13 million people are at risk of starvation.