Yemen's Marib a rare oasis amid ongoing war

The clang of jackhammers and excavators fills the streets of Yemen's Marib, a boomtown once accustomed to the sounds of war that is now a rare oasis of stability in a country torn by conflict and a humanitarian crisis.

Marib has been spared much of the misery of Yemen's war, which pits the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by the Arab coalition, against the Iran-backed Houthis (Ansarallah).

This is partly due to its oil and gas reserves, proximity to Saudi Arabia and rare tribal cohesion that has helped repel Houthi incursions.

"We have managed to push the war far away from Marib," said provincial governor Sultan al-Arada. "Marib is untouchable."

Marib is now Yemen's most thriving city, thanks in part to an influx of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), among them entrepreneurs, doctors and a monied class that is driving up investments and real estate prices.

Hundreds of new businesses have come up, from eateries to water bottling plants, and construction sites are everywhere.

In a country with chronic joblessness, Marib offers employment and salaries.

Growth fueled by conflict

"The spectacular rise of Marib has come not despite the conflict, but because of it," said Farea al-Muslimi, a Yemen expert at the think tank Chatham House.

"Marib has gained from the chaos surrounding it."

A weakened central government — exiled in the southern port city of Aden, has strengthened local governance, giving Marib more autonomy to chart its future.

Its university is expanding and businessmen who once fled the war are slowly returning.

That includes Obaid Zubaiyen, head of a family-run trade and construction enterprise with interests across the Gulf, who fled Yemen in 2011 amid increasing turmoil.

"The family is back because Marib means opportunity," said Misbah Ohag, a group manager, showing a blueprint of a planned multi-million dollar project of villas, apartments and malls.

Arada plans an international airport and aims to eventually make Marib, home to temple ruins from the ancient Sabaean kingdom, a magnet for tourists.

Scars of war in evidence

Some scars of the war outside Marib are still visible inside the province.

At a rehab centre for child soldiers, a drawing sketched by a young survivor shows a grenade, a tank, a helicopter gunship and crimson splashes of blood.

"They blew up my school," the caption reads.

The Houthis have planted thousands of landmines around Marib, and mangled carcasses of cars litter its mountainous border.

"So many dead and limbless people," said Mohammed Abdo al-Qubati, head of Marib general hospital, home to Yemen's only functional prosthetic limbs centre in government territory.

"It is like we are waiting for the remaining people to die."

Marib, with an original population of around 350,000, is sinking under the weight of what officials say are 1.5 million IDPs from across Yemen, putting a strain on resources.

In a decrepit camp on its outskirts, dozens of people from the Jaham tribe tugged at the sleeves of Saudi aid officials, imploring them for more supplies.

"This is the kind of life you wish upon your enemy. We used to live in palaces, now we live in tents," said a tribesman from nearby Sirwah district, which was overrun by the Houthis.

"No, no," interjected another tribesman. "This is not even a tent; this is wood covered with a flimsy blanket."

Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Saeed al-Jaber recently announced a plan to establish an air bridge to deliver relief from coalition countries to Marib.

Marib has been chosen due to its strategic location in the central region, he said, adding that there will be daily flights by C-130 transport planes to deliver relief.

Under threat from the Houthis

The Houthis besieged Marib for months in 2015 after they captured Sanaa, but the militia was pushed back in fierce clashes with local tribesmen, aided by the Arab coalition.

Arada, one of the region's most influential tribal leaders, rallied together fellow elders to pledge loyalty to the Hadi government -- even those who traditionally supported the Houthis.

Marib faces the constant threat of Houthi rockets, hundreds of which have been fired towards the city.

A missile strike killed six children last year during Eid festivities, Arada said.

Paying a heavy price for the conflict are thousands of divided families in Yemen, split between government territory and areas held by the Houthis.

"We go through checkpoint, checkpoint, checkpoint," said Amina al-Ayashi, 55, describing a circuitous route to Sanaa, where her son, journalist Taufiq, is in a Houthi jail as the militia cracks down on the media.

"It feels like a whole lifetime," she said. The Houthis "humiliatingly search us".

"We bring clothes, bread, vegetables. They refuse us,” she said.