Arab states launch biggest assault of Yemen war with attack on main port

ADEN, (Reuters) - A Saudi-led alliance of Arab states launched an attack on Yemen’s main port city yesterday in the largest battle of the Yemen war, aiming to bring the ruling Houthi movement to its knees at the risk of worsening the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis. Arab warplanes and warships pounded Houthi fortifications to support ground operations by foreign and Yemeni troops massed south of the port of Hodeidah in operation “Golden Victory”.

Fighting raged near Hodeidah airport and al-Durayhmi, a rural area 10 km (6 miles) south of the city, media controlled by the Arab states and their Yemeni allies reported.

The United Arab Emirates’ state news agency reported that UAE forces and local allies had penetrated the Houthis’ front line on the airport perimeter.

It also reported that four Emirati soldiers had died in Yemen, without specifying whether the deaths were tied to the Hodeidah operation.

So far, the Arab states have not tried to capture such a heavily defended major city since joining the war three years ago against the Iran-aligned Houthis, who control the capital, Sanaa, and most of the populated areas.

The Sunni Muslim Arab states see the Houthi rise as expansionism by their Shi’ite foe Iran.

The Houthis, from a Shi’ite minority, say they took power through a popular revolt and are defending Yemen from invasion.

The Saudi-led coalition’s plan is to take control only of the airport and seaport, plus the route leading to Sanaa, spokesman Turki al-Malki said. “We will not fight a street war with the Houthis in Hodeidah city, for the safety of civilians,” he told alHadath TV. The Houthis said they had a repelled a sea landing near the port by forces from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. “The Saudi coalition has not advanced at all in Hodeidah,” Dayfallah alShami, a member of the movement’s political bureau, told the Lebanese TV channel alMayadeen.