65 dead as Yemen rebels launch new assault on government stronghold

Sixty-five combatants have been killed afterYemen's Huthirebelslaunched a renewed offensiveonMarib, the lastgovernmentstrongholdin the country's oil-rich north, a military official saidonThursday.

The Iran-backedrebelsattacked pro-governmentpositions south of the strategic city, making progress despite losing dozens of fighters in coalition air strikes.

It was the Huthis' first major offensiveonMarib, the key to controlling the region, since June, when 111 fightersonboth sides died in three days of clashes.

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"Twenty-two pro-government(forces) were killed and 50 others were wounded, while 43 Huthirebelswere also killed in the last 48 hours," agovernmentmilitary official told AFP.

The figures were confirmed by other military and medical sources.

The resurgence in fighting comes after strikesonYemen's largest airbase, in the country's south, killed at least 30 pro-governmentfightersonSunday in the deadliest incident since December.

It also comes just days before the United Nations'newspecial envoy forYemen, Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg, takes up his duties.

Yemen's internationally recognisedgovernment, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition,and the Huthis have been locked in war since 2014, when the insurgents seized the capital Sanaa.

In February, the Huthis escalated their efforts to take Marib in fighting that has killed hundredsonboth sides. Control of the oil-rich north would strengthen the Huthis' bargaining position in peace talks.

While the UN and Washington are pushing for an end to the war, the Huthis have demanded the re-opening of Sanaa airport, closed under a Saudi blockade since 2016, before any ceasefire or negotiations.

As well as the bloody offensive in Marib, the Huthis have also stepped up drone and missile strikesonSaudi targets, including its oil facilities.

In June, the former UN envoy forYemen, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council that his efforts over the past three years to end the war had been "in vain".

The fighting has killed tens of thousands and left some 80 percent of Yemenis dependentonaid, in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The war has also displaced millions of people and left manyonthe brink of famine.