At least 20 Houthis were killed in airstrikes carried out by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces on the militia group's positions in Yemen's Marib province, a government military source said."The airstrikes targeted the reinforcements on Saturday evening at the frontline of Rahabah district, destroying four pick-up vehicles and killing more than 20 people," the source told Xinhua news agency on Sunday.Meanwhile, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Saturday reported 17 airstrikes on frontlines of Marib's western districts of Rahabah, Jabal Murad and Sirwah, without providing further details.Last week, the Houthis advanced into al-Kulah, the centre town of Rahabah district, after deadly fighting with the government troops.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched in February a major offensive on Marib in an attempt to seize control of the oil-rich province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.The UN has warned that the offensive on Marib, which hosts nearly 1 million internally displaced people, could lead to a major humanitarian catastrophe.The world body's recent peace proposal to end the war was publicly rejected by the Houthi group.Yemen's civil war flared up in late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi group seized control of much of the country's north and forced the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government.