Saudiled coalition attacks Yemen’s port

ADEN: Troops backed by a Saudiled coalition yesterday launched an assault on Yemen’s main port city of Hodeidah, in the biggest battle of a threeyear war between an alliance of Arab states and the Iranaligned Houthis.

Coalition warplanes and warships were carrying out strikes on Houthi fortifications to support ground operations by Yemeni troops massed south of the Red Sea port, the internationally recognised Yemeni governmentinexile said in a statement.

The ‘‘Golden Victory’’ operation began after the passing of a deadline set by the United Arab Emirates for the Houthis, who hold the capital Sanaa, to quit the sole port under their control.

Hodeidah is the lifeline for the majority of Yemen’s population, who live in Houthi territory.

Houthi leader Mohammed Ali AlHouthi, who has threatened attacks on oil tankers along the strategic Red Sea shipping lane, warned the Westernbacked alliance not to attack the port and said on Twitter his forces had targeted a coalition barge.

Houthirun Al Masirah TV said two missiles struck the barge, but there was no immediate confirmation from the coalition.

The United Nations had been trying to get the parties to reach a deal that would avert an attack on Hodeidah, which it fears would further impede Yemenis’ access to food, fuel and medicine, exacerbating the world’s most urgent humanitarian crisis in the impoverished Arab state. — Reuters