About 100.000 people have been displaced due to the year-long conflict between Yemeni government forces and rebels around the strategically important city of Marib, the international humanitarian group Oxfam announced today.
The fighting around Marib has worsened the already dire humanitarian situation of displaced people, many of whom have had to flee repeatedly due to conflict in war-torn Yemen, according to Oxfam.
Rebels from the Iran-backed Houthi movement launched an offensive in February last year to capture the city of Marib. In an effort to occupy the entire north of the country, they took control of the oil-rich province of Marib, and reached the outskirts of the city of the same name, the last stronghold of government forces in that part of Yemen.
However, government forces, aided by air support from an international coalition led by Saudi Arabia, fought back earlier this year and recaptured large swathes of territory around the city, including the province's second-largest district.
According to United Nations data, there are about one million displaced people in the province of Marib, which is a quarter of the total number of refugees due to the war in Yemen. Local authorities estimate that there are about two million refugees in Marib.
In January, at least 43 airstrikes in Marib province hit civilian targets, including houses and farms. Landmines, improvised explosive devices and grenades were also used in the attacks on civilians in Marib. Landmines killed eight people in January, according to Oxfam.
Yemen's civil war began in 2014, when rebels seized the capital Sana'a and much of the north of the country, forcing the government to flee south and then into exile in Saudi Arabia. An international coalition entered the war in 2015 to help the internationally recognized government regain control of the country.
The conflict, in which tens of thousands of combatants and civilians died, caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
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