The rebels died in the fighting and from airstrikes by the military coalition backing the government The Houthis in February escalated their efforts to seize Marib DUBAI: More than 140 rebels and pro-government troops have been killed this week as fighting intensifies for Yemen’s strategic northern city of Marib, military and medical sources told AFP Friday. At least 51 loyalists were killed in the past four days, most of them in clashes in the province of Shabwa and the neighboring governorate of Marib, multiple military sources said. They added that at least 93 Iran-backed Houthi rebels also died in the fighting and from airstrikes by the military coalition backing the government. The Houthis rarely report casualty numbers, but figures were confirmed by medical sources. The Houthis in February escalated their efforts to seize Marib, the government’s last northern stronghold, and the fighting has killed hundreds on both sides. According to the military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Houthis have made advances and seized four districts — one in Marib and three in Shabwa. Yemen’s conflict flared in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, prompting intervention to prop up the internationally recognized government the following year. Earlier this week, Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg, the UN’s new envoy for Yemen, was in Oman, which has played a mediating role in the Yemen conflict. He met with Omani and Houthi officials, including top rebel negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam. “Sustainable peace can only be achieved through a peacefully negotiated settlement,” said Grundberg, according to a statement on Tuesday. “It is imperative that all efforts are directed toward revitalizing a political process that can produce lasting solutions that meet the aspirations of Yemeni women and men.” While the UN and Washington are pushing for an end to the war, the Houthis have demanded the reopening of Sanaa airport, closed under a Saudi blockade since 2016, before any ceasefire or negotiations. The last talks took place in Sweden in 2018, when the opposing sides agreed to a mass prisoner swap and to spare the city of Hodeidah, where the port serves as the country’s lifeline. But despite agreeing to a cease-fire in Hodeidah, violent clashes have since broken out between the rebels and pro-government troops around the strategic city. On Wednesday, donors pledged an additional $600 million to tackle Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, as the UN and other aid agencies warned that vital aid programs would be cut this year without more funding. This year’s $3.85 billion aid response plan to what the UN describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis had been only half funded before Wednesday’s high-level UN meeting co-hosted by Sweden, Switzerland and the EU. A significant gap in funding for the aid response in Yemen, which has been divided by seven years of war, opened up last year, forcing some aid programs to close and the UN to warn of increasing risk of famine.