SANAA, Yemen

At least 134 Houthi rebels were killed in Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen’s central Marib province in the past 24 hours, the Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday.

In a statement published by the Saudi state news agency SPA, the coalition said Houthis suffered the casualties in 43 airstrikes targeting their positions in the Al-Abdiyah district.

On Monday, the coalition said it had killed 156 rebels in the same area.

Houthi rebels have slapped a siege on Al-Abdiyah district in recent weeks, amid fighting with Yemeni government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition.

The group has for a month scaled up its attacks to take control of the oil-rich province, which is the most important stronghold of the government and also acts as the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense.

Meanwhile, rebel spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement that “5,650 enemy mercenaries were killed, injured and captured” in the Houthi offensive in Marib.

He said the group has “liberated” several districts in the outskirts of Marib province and shot down six US-made spy fighter drones.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned 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, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises with 233,000 people killed, nearly 80% or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 13 million in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar