Saudi-led coalition: Scores of Houthis killed in central Yemen

The Saudi Arabian-led Arab coalition in Yemen has claimed that it killed 130 Houthi militants in military operations in the past 24 hours.

"We carried out 27 targeting operations to vehicles and militants of the Houthi militia in the provinces of Marib and al-Bayda (central Yemen) during the past 24 hours," the Kingdom’s official SPA news agency said on Wednesday citing a statement by the coalition.

Operations "destroyed 16 military vehicles and eliminated 130 Houthi terrorist militants" and it “carried out four operations in Yemen’s western coast to support the coastal forces and protect civilians.”

But the Houthi rebel group said only 12 of its fighters were killed.

The Houthi-run Saba news agency quoted an unnamed security source who said, “12 of its fighters, most of them were holding officer ranks, were killed by coalition warplanes."

“The fighters were killed on a number of fronts and were buried in the capital Sanaa,” the source said.

READ MORE: Houthi missile attack kills, injures many civilians in Yemen's Marib

Increase in rebel attacks

Since February, the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks to take control of oil-rich Marib province, one of the most important strongholds of the legitimate government and home to the headquarters of Yemen’s Defense Ministry.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation and caused one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, 

The conflict has claimed 233,000 lives with nearly 80 percent, or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection and more than 13 million in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.

READ MORE: Why the Houthis stormed the US embassy in Yemen