Yemen forces seize key rebel-held airport
DUBAI: Emirati-backed Yemeni government forces seized Hodeida airport from Huthi rebels, the coalition said, in a major step towards retaking the key Red Sea port city.
“The airport was completely cleared, Thank God, and is under control,” the coalition commander for the Red Sea coast, Abdul Salaam al-Shehi, said in a video posted by the United Arab Emirates’ official WAM news agency.
Government forces broke through the airport perimeter fence sparking heavy fighting in which at least 33 rebels and 19 soldiers were killed.
Last Wednesday, they launched an offensive to clear Hodeida of rebel fighters who have held it since 2014, raising UN concerns for vital aid shipments and food imports through the city’s
The airport was completely cleared, Thank God, and is under control. Abdul Salaam al-Shehi, coalition commander for the Red Sea coast
docks.
The airport is disused but housed a major rebel base just inland from the coast road into the city from the south.
It lies eight kilometres from the city’s port, through which threequarters of Yemen’s imports pass, providing a lifeline for some 22 million people dependent on aid.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths held four days of talks in the rebelheld capital Sanaa in a bid to avert an all-out battle for the city but flew out on Tuesday without announcing any breakthrough.
The United Arab Emirates and other members of a Saudiled coalition that intervened in support of the government in 2015 have accused regional arch foe Iran of using Hodeida as conduit for arms smuggling to the rebels. Tehran has denied the allegation.
The United Nations has warned any attack on Hodeida port could cripple shipments of desperately needed aid to the 8.4 million Yemenis facing imminent starvation.
Hodeida’s residents are now bracing for what they fear will be devastating street fighting, as tanks and buses carrying uniformed troops roll through the empty streets of the once-bustling city. — AFP