In Yemen’s gas-rich region of Marib, fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed government recited Koranic verses before launching a hail of mortar and machine gun fire towards rocky mountains, in a desperate bid to push back Houthi forces. A truck drives past the Safer oil refinery in Marib, Yemen September 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ali Owidha The commanding officer peered through his binoculars at the dust and plumes of black smoke thrown up by the firing, aimed at a group of elusive enemy Houthi snipers. A few dozen kilometres (miles) away, hundreds of displaced civilians in makeshift camps waited for water, food and medicine from humanitarian groups – a further sign that despite United Nations peace efforts, the near six-year-old war grinds on. “We have more than 1,500 families in this camp and they already moved three times … because the fighting keeps following them,” said Mohsen Mushalla, […]