Yemen forces launch assault on Hodeida

AL JAH: Yemeni forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition launched a major offensive on Wednesday to retake the Ansar Allah-held port city of Hodeida, despite UN warnings of a “catastrophic humanitarian impact”.

Field commanders said that troops pushed towards Hodeida airport after Yemeni pro-government forces received a “green light” from the coalition. The offensive is controversial because the port serves as the entry point for 70 per cent of Yemen’s imports as the country teeters on the brink of famine.

The coalition accuses the Ansar Allah of using the port to secure arms, notably the ballistic missiles the militants have increasingly fired into Saudi territory.

Coalition sources said the alliance carried out 18 air strikes on Ansar Allah positions on the outskirts of Hodeida on Wednesday.

According to medical sources in the province, 22 Ansar Allah fighters were killed by coalition raids, while three pro-government fighters were killed in an ambush south of Hodeida. The port city, home to 600,000 people, was captured by the Ansar Allah in 2014 along with the capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and a bloc of other countries intervened in Yemen the following year with the goal of restoring the government to power.

Yemen’s government said on Tuesday that negotiations had failed to force the rebels from Hodeida, and that a grace period for Un-led peace efforts was over.

“All peaceful and political means of removing the Ansar Allah militia from Hodeida port have been exhausted,” the government said in a statement carried by Yemen’s state news agency Saba.

The offensive is controversial because the port serves as the entry point for 70 per cent of Yemen’s imports as the country teeters on the brink of famine