On Friday, the United Nations welcomed Washington's decision to remove the Houthis from the "list of terrorist organizations," while the US envoy began diplomatic efforts to stop the war, amid the ferocity of the battles between the two parties to the conflict.

The United Nations said it welcomes Washington's revocation of designating the Houthis as a terrorist group.

She expressed her hope that the positive US actions on Yemen would contribute to a political solution to end the conflict in the country.

And US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced earlier that the Houthi group had been removed from the terrorism list, starting next Tuesday, with Houthi leaders remaining under UN sanctions.

Blinken said in a statement that the removal of this half-rating by the new administration "is an acknowledgment of the appalling humanitarian situation in Yemen."

Blinken urged all parties to work towards finding a lasting political solution in Yemen, and said that canceling the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group aims to ensure that Washington's policies do not impede the provision of humanitarian aid, and stressed that a political solution is the only way to end the crisis.

He added that Washington will continue to draw attention to the destabilizing activity of the Houthi group, and to pressure it to change its behavior, as well as his country's commitment to helping its Gulf partners to defend themselves against the threats that Iran supports in Yemen.

Former US President Donald Trump had put the Houthi group on the list of terrorist organizations, a few days before his departure from power.

For his part, the leader of the group, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, described the new US decision as positive.

He said in a tweet on the social networking site Twitter, "We await new decisions to stop America's malign behavior by continuing the aggression and siege on Yemen."

Diplomatic efforts

In the context, the US State Department said that the US envoy to Yemen Timothy Lenderking met with Saudi and Yemeni officials to push for a solution to the conflict.

The US State Department stressed that "there is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen, and we believe that the solution will only be diplomatic."

Biden announced last week that he would stop US support for the Saudi-led coalition's military operations.

Veteran diplomat Timothy Lenderking has also appointed a special envoy to Yemen, with the aim of bolstering diplomatic efforts led by the United Nations to negotiate an end to the war.

Fierce battles

On the ground, violent battles continued for the sixth consecutive day between the Yemeni army and the Houthi militia on several fronts.

The army said in a statement that its forces "backed by the popular resistance and the Arab coalition warplanes repelled several successive suicide attacks by the Houthi militia against military sites at the Kassara front, west of the Ma'rib governorate (east), in an attempt to control it."

He added, "The battles have resulted in the death of more than 60 Houthi fighters and wounding others, in addition to other losses in equipment, without mentioning whether the confrontations resulted in losses among the government forces or not.

The Houthi group did not comment on the army's claim that there were deaths in its ranks in Marib, but the Al-Masirah satellite channel, speaking on behalf of the group, said in a brief news that the coalition warplanes launched 18 air strikes on Friday, on the districts of Sirwah and Meddhal in the governorate where the confrontations take place.

This came hours after the group announced Friday morning that it had shot down a coalition fighter spy plane in the district of Medghal.

5 days ago, the Houthis stepped up their attacks in Marib Governorate, in order to control it, as it is the most important stronghold of the government and the main headquarters of the Ministry of Defense, in addition to its enjoyment of oil and gas wealth, as one of the most important governorates of the country.

And in Al-Jawf Governorate (north), the Yemeni army announced in another statement that its forces lured Houthi groups into a tight ambush, east of Bir Al-Mazariq, before they imposed the siege on them and clashed with them for about 4 hours.

According to the statement, the battle resulted in the loss of many Houthi fighters, either dead or wounded, while the Houthi group did not comment on that incident.

Yemen has been witnessing a war for about 7 years, and a coalition led by Saudi Arabia is carrying out military operations in support of government forces, in the face of the Houthis, supported by Iran, and who control several provinces, including the capital, Sanaa.