Further complicating the situation in the southern Shabwah Province, the Houthis fired a missile against the area, along with explosive drones, killing at least 10 Yemeni soldiers.
The soldiers had just been sent to the area as reinforcements to contest control of the province, which has been seized by UAE-backed forces. This shows rising rival forces in the area.
Shabwah is being presented in the reports as “oil rich,” though in practice it just borders Maarib, and is the coastal area from which oil is exported. Its proximity to Maarib also has the Houthis interested in controlling the supply lines.
The new fighting is raising concern of further fragmenting of the war, with the pro-Saudi government forces facing internal rivals and the Houthis. The Houthis control almost all of northern Yemen.
Whack ’em all, Houthis!
Yemen is otherwise such a pretty country. Modern history has not done their people justice.
Tell me who “Yemeni soldiers” represent.
This resembles Libya, where some groups control oil fields, others control oil pipeline routes from them, and still others control the ports to which the pipelines flow and where oil is loaded. It is not oil for market unless it is all together.