![A Yemeni tribesman from the pro-government Popular Resistance Committees holds a Yemeni flag in the Nehm camp west of Marib city, in this file photo from February 11th, 2016. [Abdullah al-Qadry/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2020/02/19/22551-Yemen-tribesmen-Marib-700_496.webp)
Eight bodyguards to Yemen's defence minister were killed Wednesday (February 19th) when their vehicle hit a landmine east of Sanaa, in a blast that left the official unhurt, a ministry source said.
Defence Minister Gen. Mohammed Ali al-Maqdishi was in Marib province on Wednesday visiting one of the Yemen conflict's main frontlines.
The Yemeni government, backed by the Arab coalition, has been battling the Iran-backed Houthis (Ansarallah) since 2014.
"A vehicle accompanying that of the defence minister was struck by an explosion," a defence ministry source said, adding that eight of his guards were killed.
"Nothing happened to the minister," the source said.
Pro-government military officials in late January said the Houthis had made gains against Yemeni forces north and east of Sanaa, seizing a strategic road.
The road connects Sanaa to the provinces of Marib, to the east, and al-Jawf in the north.
Before the latest upsurge in fighting, al-Jawf had been mostly controlled by the Houthis, with the provincial capital still in the hands of the government.
Marib province, including its capital, is under government control.
The renewed fighting, which erupted several weeks ago, included a January 18th missile strike on a pro-government military camp that killed 116 people.
He weighs 200 kilograms and they couldn't kill him, while Abul Yamama weighs 40 kilograms and they were able to kill him! Stop deceiving people, o, liars!
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