Pro-coalition forces in Marib include Al-Qaeda-linked groups: FM

SANAA, Feb. 10 (YPA) – Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf said on Tuesday that the forces and other armed groups loyal to Saudi-led coalition countries, present in Marib province, include extremist terrorist groups linked to Al-Qaeda.

This came during his meeting in Sanaa with the Special Assistant to the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Political Affairs in Yemen, Mathew Leslie, and Acting Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation Alexander Ekoy.

The meeting discussed the latest developments in the situation in Marib province.

At the meeting, the foreign minister stated that the army forces, the popular committees and the security forces are carrying out their duty to purge the area of those terrorist groups.

The current operations in Marib do not target the areas and surroundings of the sources of oil and gas wells, which are the property of the Yemeni people, but are primarily aimed at neutralizing the area and making it safe, far from the control of the coalition loyalists, he added.

Sharaf confirmed that Sanaa government seeks for peace and wants to create the appropriate atmosphere for achieving a political settlement.

YPA