Marib.. Yemen’s ‘miracle’ to Houthi terror target
Yemen’s Marib has been the focus of world attention since the renewal of the Iranian-backed Houthi military offensive in the province, which enjoys a strategic position.
Marib (173 km northeast of Sanaa) has been witnessing fierce battles for more than a year, but the fierce offensive and Houthi crimes against the city’s residents intensified on February 7th, with the aim of controlling the Safir gas fields, Yemen’s largest oilfield, to continue starting war and fires south towards Shabwa, Aden and Bab al-Mandab.
Marib is known for many descriptions, the most important of which are “Land of Sheba,” “Land of Queen Belqis,” the home of “Mareb Dam,” the stronghold of the most powerful tribe “Mathhag”, “Stronghold of the Ancestors of the Arabs”, which saved the Hadd from Solomon’s torment as stated in the Holy Quran.
Marib Dam and Gas Target Al-Houthi
Perhaps the historical value of the “Marib Dam”, which researchers consider the miracle of the Arabian Peninsula, was the first aspiration of the Iranian regime and its expansionist dreams in the region, to control the land, which is considered a cradle of the ancestors and tribes that spread in the eastern African coast and the Asian East.
Located on the international vital line linking Yemen to Saudi Arabia, Marib has an area of 17,405 square kilometers spread over 14 districts. It has an important strategic presence in five Yemeni provinces, three of which are northern and two southern provinces, Hadramaut and Shabwa.
The Hadramaut and Shabwa cities also form a triple to the citizens of all oil and gas fields in the country outside the control of the Houthi militia. Through three military campaigns, the militia, with their larger military concept, seeks to overthrow Marib to provide fuel for war to expand southward, where oil provinces are located.
Marib has the largest gas export field (Safer), which is the home gas source of the entire country, and has the largest gas-fired power plant.
The Marib oil refinery has a production capacity of 10,000 barrels per day, but this has slowed considerably since the coup, following the destruction of the port of Ra’s Issa in Al-Hodeidah (west) and its use of the “Safer” ship, to which the Marib oil pipeline runs, as a time bomb in the Red Sea.
The Wonder of Marib
The capital of Saba has many historical landmarks and includes the most famous monuments in Yemen, most notably the Balqis Throne or the Baran Temple, to the west of the desert of Al-Rub Al-Khali. It also has the Awam Temple on the bank of Wadi Thunah, near the historical Marib Dam, which was forced by the Revolutionary Guard to reach.
Following their failure, the rebel militia fabricated hundreds of pictures of its gunmen on the “Marib Dam” in an attempt to raise the morale of its followers and sell illusion to the families of those killed, who were now 10 kilometers from the city of Marib.
The wonder in Marib is not only the temple of “AWAM”, which is supposed to be the eighth wonder of the seven wonders of the world, as it is said, but also the resilience of the tribes and their men who came to defend their land in 2015 and formed a strong barrier against the Houthi militia after the invasion of Sanaa.
Soon afterwards, the Arab Coalition forces, led by Saudi Arabia, supported the tribes of Marib in confronting the Houthi militia with men and equipment, turning the province into a main base in the war against the rebels.
The Yemeni government estimates that Marib has a population of nearly 4 million, half of whom are displaced. The Yemeni government estimates that the population of Marib is about 4 million, in the latest official statistics.
“Marib is known for its strong tribes and also the homeland of the strongest tribes in Yemen, which are Murad, Obeida, Al-Jadaan, Bani Jabr, Jaham, and Bani Abd.”
Unlike Marib’s tribes, which are known for their generosity, magnanimity, and courage, they were the most important factor in the fateful battle and in thwarting the advance of the fighting regiments that the Houthis launched last month.
The Houthi terrorism did not achieve more than disappointment in front of the Marib tribes, where the “Murad” tribe leads the battle south in defense of its territory, and the tribes of the “Jadaan”, “Bani Abd” in the northwest, and “Bani Jabr” in the west.
The Obeida tribe, whose lands seem relatively far from the line of fire to the east on the front lines of Al-Alam, has recently succeeded under the leadership of its leader, Murad Bin Mu’ayli, in strengthening the Yemeni army units in the fronts of Sarawhah and Al-Falaq, to which the Houthis had given the “Death Brigades” to control its heights overlooking the Marib dam.
Marib’s change of equation
Since the decline of the Naham and Al-Jawf fronts following the weakness of the Brotherhood, the Houthis have succeeded in penetrating the geography of Marib and opening more than 10 battle axes at the beginning of last year. However, the battle has already revived the momentum of the confrontations and has turned Marib into the stronghold of a crowd of all Yemenis.
Following the Houthi incursion, Arab coalition fighter jets launched strikes targeting the targets of the Houthi militia and the reinforcements arriving in Marib province. The official spokesman, who spoke on the occasion of his appearance on the “Marib Dam”, addressed a strong message of defiance to the Iranian regime and said it was “difficult to fall”.
It is expected that the coming days will witness a large-scale military uprising, given the arrangements that aim to secure Marib instead of the signs of military action to change the equation on the ground. Its features appear to take shape in Marib, Al-Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah, al-Daleh, Sa’dah, al-Bayda, and al-Jouf in the north, east and south.
The battle for Marib, both Arab and international, is considered a “decisive” one and has a significant impact on the political future as it is the last stronghold of the legitimate government in the northern provinces.
