Intensified Arab coalition airstrikes in Yemen's oil-rich Marib‏

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition continued Tuesday in launching intensified airstrikes on the Houthi fighters attacking Yemen's oil-rich province of Marib, a military official told Xinhua.

According to the local official who asked to remain anonymous, a series of sustained air raids were carried out by the coalition's warplanes and struck Houthi-held areas in different areas of Marib during the past 24 hours.

He said that "the intensification of airstrikes largely helped the local anti-Houthi tribal fighters on-ground and encouraged them to counter the Houthi offensive on their province."

The Yemeni official confirmed that the surge of the Houthi militias appeared to have been partially halted, as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intensified air campaign helped to curb the rebels' advancement towards Marib.

A local tribal chief told Xinhua by phone saying that "with the non-stop hovering of fighter jets overhead, the Houthi fighters were impeded and they are concentrating on covering themselves and avoiding being targeted."