Over 55,000 displaced by fighting for Marib: UN

Dubai: Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by fierce fighting in Yemen’s Marib province this year, the UN’s migration agency said on Thursday, with figures surging as clashes intensified last month.

The battle for Marib city, the internationally-backed government’s last northern stronghold, could change the course of a civil war that has forced millions of people to flee their homes over the course of its seven years.

"From January 1 to September 30, IOM recorded more than 55,000 people displaced in Marib governorate in the areas where our displacement tracking and rapid response teams have access," the International Organisation for Migration told AFP.

The Huthi rebels began a big push to seize Marib in February and, after a lull, they renewed their campaign in September, prompting intense air bombardments from coalition forces backing the government.

Nearly 10,000 people were displaced last month alone -- the highest numbers in the province this year, the IOM said.

Coalition strikes intensified this week, when the alliance reported four successive days of operations south of Marib and around 550 rebels killed, a toll that could not be independently verified. Marib had between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants before the war.