Senior defence ministry official killed in Yemen

A high-ranking official of Yemen's Ministry of Defence was killed on Monday in ongoing battles raging against the Houthi rebel militia in the country's oil-rich province of Marib, a government official told Xinhua.

"Nasser al-Thibani, chief of the military operations of the government's forces, was killed while confronting the Houthi offensive aimed at the city of Marib early this morning," the local government source said on condition of anonymity.

The source said that the Houthis opened fire and killed al-Thibani and other soldiers of the pro-government forces during the ongoing battles taking place near Balaq mountain range, south of the city of Marib.

He clarified that al-Thibani was considered as a prominent official of the pro-government Ministry of Defence that's currently based in Marib.

The source pointed out that the government forces have managed to regain control of several sites near Balaq, killing and injuring many elements of the Houthi rebel militia.

On Sunday, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition stated it conducted 35 aerial operations against the Iran-backed Houthis near Marib, killing more than 200 militants and destroying 21 military vehicles.

During the past weeks, hundreds of Houthi fighters were either killed or injured as a result of the intensified Saudi aerial shelling launched to support the government forces in Marib and elsewhere in Yemen, according to local Yemeni sources.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched in February a major offensive toward Marib in an attempt to seize control of the province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since September 2014 when the Houthi militia forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

Meanwhile, Yemen's Houthi militia pulled 42 bodies of their fighters from frontlines in the Yemeni central province of Marib on Monday, moving them to mortuaries in the neighboring province of Dhamar, medics said.

They were killed by airstrikes and in the battles with the government troops in the districts of Sirwah and Al-Jubah in the past 24 hours, the medics in Dhamar told Xinhua by phone.

Sirwah and Al-Jubah are the main frontlines in the province, which are located to the west and south of the government-controlled Marib' central city.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia began in February a major offensive to capture the oil-rich province of Marib, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.