SANA’A, Yemen 

The Yemeni army said early Tuesday they have seized strategic military points in Nihm district east of the capital Sana’a and that 20 members of the Houthi militia have been killed.   

In a statement, it said many weapons and ammunition were captured.  

Houthi militias were previously deployed at the strategic points and used them as bases for attacks on settlements and villages in the west of Marib governorate. 

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sana’a. 

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains. 

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis are believed to have been killed and injured in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.