SANAA (Debriefer)--A senior Houthi leader claimed on Sunday that the forces of the Ansar Allah Group, known as the Houthis, are now within a stone's throw of the city centre of Yemen's Marib.
Chief of the group's intelligence and military reconnaissance, Brigadier General Abdullah Yahya Al-Hakim, said in a statement to the 26th September news website: "With support from all Yemeni tribes topped by the free people of Marib and Jawf provinces, today we have reached the outskirts of Marib". "We will take this province back very soon," he said.
The command headquarters of the army of the internationally recognised government is based in Marib, 172 kilometers northeast of the capital Sanaa.
Al-Hakim warned the aggression states, referring to a Saudi-led coalition which has been fighting in support of the government since 2015, against targeting economic and oil facilities in Marib.
"Our arm is strong and long. It can reach and destroy all your economic and oil facilities. We can deliver a twofold payback," he said in his message to the coalition, according to the website.
Moreover, he called on the Marib tribes that are still on the side of the aggression to come back to the people and contribute to arresting the killers of a tribal elder and his family members two weeks ago.
"The next period holds crucial titles with consensus of the tribes of Madhhaj, Himyar, Bakil and Hashid to finish clearing Marib of mercenaries and invaders and retake this historic, strategic and economic province," he said.
More recently, the Houthi Group called on tribes to wage a war against Marib to avenge the killing of the sheikh his his brothers and sons as its forces continued to fight pro-government forces and push deeper in the province.
