Three Yemeni government forces killed in Houthi drone attack on Marib

• Three Yemeni government forces killed and four wounded in a Houthi drone attack targeting military sites in Marib.

Three members of Yemen's government forces were killed and four others wounded in a new drone attack carried out by Houthi rebels on Marib province on Friday, a Yemeni military source told AFP.

The attack comes after a period of relative calm in Yemen since 2022, with the Marib front recently becoming part of broader regional tensions amid renewed exchanges of attacks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, which leads the military coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government.

On Thursday, 58 government forces were killed in Houthi missile and drone attacks, marking the deadliest escalation in years. Overnight Thursday into Friday, a Saudi official source said 11 people were injured in the southern Saudi region of Najran after Houthi forces launched what Riyadh described as "random projectiles."

The Yemeni military source said Friday's attack targeted the Harib area in southern Marib, with the initial toll standing at three dead and four wounded.

The source added that the Houthis launched "more than 10 missiles and seven explosive drones" targeting military camps in Marib.

Earlier, the source reported artillery exchanges and clashes in Sirwah and the Al-Kassara front north of Marib city, saying air defenses were firing at Houthi drones over the city. The Houthis also targeted a weapons storage facility in Sahn al-Jan, according to the source.

The Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa, and the Yemeni government, based in the southern city of Aden, share control of the strategic Marib province. The government controls Marib city, as well as the province's oil fields and facilities.

The Houthis launched a major offensive on Marib in 2021 in an attempt to seize the oil-rich province, but fighting largely halted after a UN-brokered truce in 2022.

The renewed attacks have raised concerns of a return to wider conflict in Yemen. The country has recently become another front in the broader Middle East tensions.

The conflict intensified after the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing. The group later announced a naval blockade on Saudi ports and began targeting Saudi-linked oil tankers.

Earlier in July, 16 pro-government Yemeni forces were killed in a Houthi attack south of the coastal city of Hodeidah, according to two medical officials cited by AFP.