The Marib campaign, also called Marib offensive (), is an ongoing military campaign taking place in the Yemeni civil war for the control of the Marib Governorate of Yemen. Fighting between the Houthi forces and factions of the Yemeni Army loyal to Supreme Political Council on one side, and Yemeni Army units loyal to president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and militiamen on the other side, took place since early 2015. Marib is rich in oil and gas resources and is a key strategic governorate because it connects the Houthi-controlled Sanaa and Alimi-controlled Hadhramaut governorates. Timeline 2015 In September 2015, Saudi-backed Yemeni forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi engaged Houthi forces and successfully established control over the eastern and western regions of Marib province. They took territory in Sirwah and Hareeb district, including the Hailan mountain, Al Ateef, Al Makhdarah, and Al Masaryah hill. On 4 September, Houthi forcers launched a OTR-21 Tochka ballistic missile at a Saudi-led coalition base in Safer, killing at least 52 Emirati, 10 Saudis and 5 Bahrainis servicemen. 2016 The 2015 missile strike marked an escalation in the conflict. In the months that followed, coalition air strikes targeted more civilian sites than military targets. During the 18-month period, between 26 March 2015 and 2 August 2016 there were nearly 500 attacks in Mar'ib, which was located at the frontline of the battle between coalition and Houthi forces. In 2016 the Yemen Data Project reported that Saudi air raids had hit a market in Sirwah twenty-four times. In October, Houthi forces killed Major General Abdul-Rab al-Shadadi, a high-level pro-government commander. Houthis leaders Hussain al-Mutawakel and Abu Jabar Ahmad al-Houthi, were captured by coalition forces. Coalition forces fought with Houthis for control over the route that runs from Yemen's capital Sanaa through Sirwah to Mar'ib. 2017 In November 2017 the New York Times reported that Mar'ib was "an island of relative calm". 2020 On 18 January, a missile attack on a military training camp in the central province of Marib killed at least 111 soldiers, while dozens were wounded. Yemeni government blamed Houthi rebels for the attack, as there was no claim of responsibility. The strike targeted a mosque as people met for prayer, military sources told Reuters. On 8 April, Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki announced a two-week ceasefire, in part to avoid the COVID-19 pandemic. Saudi vice defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted