Yemen.. Marib battles cause the displacement of 45,000 people, and the coalition targets Houthi sites in Sana'a

Today, Wednesday, the United Nations International Organization for Migration reported that more than 45,000 people have been displaced due to intense fighting in Ma'rib Governorate in Yemen, with developments on the frontline that led to the change of locations of the fronts and front lines.

Since last February, the Houthis have been fiercely fighting the forces loyal to the government that control the city of Marib, the center of the province of the same name, which will allow them to lay their hands on the entire north of Yemen.

"Active front lines have changed more in the past two months than at any time this year," the organization confirmed - in a statement.

"The number of people forced to flee their homes in Marib - where many of them fled for the fourth or fifth time - has increased to more than 45,000 displaced people since last September," she added.

The city has long been considered a refuge for many displaced people who fled the battles or hoped for a new start in a city that has been stable for years, but are now in the crossfire, as the fighting to control it has escalated.

The government indicates that there are about 139 camps for the displaced in the city of Ma'rib and the governorate of the same name, which have received about 2.2 million displaced people.

Members of the Yemeni army in Ma'rib Governorate (Al-Jazeera)

Anxiety and possibilities

The statement quoted the organization's chief of mission in Yemen, Christa Rottsteiner, as saying that the organization is "deeply concerned about the possibility that hundreds of thousands of people will have to relocate, if violence reaches the city, in addition to the high number of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure."

According to Rottsteiner, "We have not witnessed such despair in Marib over the past two years as we have seen in the past two months."

"Communities are being repeatedly displaced, arriving at our sites in dire need of most essentials," she added.

She pointed out that there are cases where 40 people are forced to "share one small tent."

This comes after a report by the United Nations Development Program - issued on Tuesday - estimated that the war in Yemen will cause the deaths of 377,000 people directly and indirectly by the end of this year, seven years after its outbreak.

"We found that by the end of 2021, the conflict in Yemen will have resulted in 377,000 deaths, nearly 60% of which (about 226,200 people) are indirect," the report said.

The direct deaths are those caused by the fighting, and their percentage is 40% of the outcome, which means that their number is 150 thousand and 800 people.

The war in Yemen began in 2014, when the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, and the following year, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of the government.

Yemeni families were forced to flee for the third time due to the escalation of fighting in Marib (Al-Jazeera)

Battles and strikes

The battles are concentrated today, especially in the vicinity of the strategic city of Marib, which is the last stronghold of the government in the north of the country, and in the Hodeidah region in the west, which includes a port that is a lifeline for millions of people.

On the ground, the Arab coalition in Yemen announced - at dawn today, Wednesday - targeting secret sites for the activity of drones, in the capital, Sanaa, which is under the control of the Houthi group.

And the coalition said - in a statement reported by the official Saudi Press Agency - that it had begun carrying out air strikes against legitimate military targets in Sanaa.

He added that the operation targeted secret sites for drone activity, explaining that the Houthi militia used a building under construction (the location of which was not specified) as a secret laboratory for these drones, according to the statement.

And he added, "We have taken precautionary measures to spare civilians and civilian objects from collateral damage to the operation," without providing further details.

For its part, Al-Masirah channel, affiliated with the Houthis, announced - via Twitter at dawn today, Wednesday - that the Saudi-American aggression (the coalition) launched two raids on the Al-Anab residential neighborhood in the Ma'in district of Sana'a.

According to the channel, one of the raids targeted a building under construction belonging to the Al-Yateem Hospital, without any other details.