Oman Daily Observer

Fears for civilians as Yemen forces edge closer to lifeline port

The past 24 hours have claimed the lives of 39 fighters

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ADEN: Yemeni pro-government forces advanced closer to Ansar Allahheld Hodeida overnight, a military source said on Wednesday, raising fears over humanitari­an aid deliveries through the lifeline port city.

Concern was also growing for civilians in Hodeida, as the fighting drew near and after reports that snipers had positioned themselves on a hospital rooftop.

Plumes of smoke were seen billowing from the horizon on Tuesday as heavily armed progovernm­ent forces moved towards the Red Sea port on foot and on the back of pick-up trucks. A pro-government military source said on Wednesday that loyalists backed by a Saudi-led coalition made “limited advances” overnight towards Hodeida and its port, through which more than 70 per cent of the country’s imports pass.

The coalition had sent fighter jets and Apache attack helicopter­s to cover Yemeni troops fighting rebels on the ground, the source said.

A barrage of 100 air strikes were fired at the weekend around Hodeida, the Save the Children aid group said, citing its staff in the city of 600,000 residents. In the past 24 hours fighting claimed the lives of 27 rebels and 12 pro-government fighters on the outskirts of Hodeida city, a medical source said on Wednesday.

Nearly 200 combatants have been killed in the past week, according to military sources.

The United Nations children’s fund, Unicef, on Wednesday voiced concern an escalation in the violence would jeopardise humanitari­an efforts crucial for the survival of millions across the war-torn country.

“The concern really is that if Hodeida port doesn’t function anymore, we, as Unicef, are then not able to bring in humanitari­an supplies through that port,” Juliette Touma, spokeswoma­n for the UN agency, said.

Touma said that in past years Unicef had been able to transport to Hodeida humanitari­an supplies using “little boats”.

This week marks one year since the government coalition, which controls Yemen’s airspace and maritime borders, imposed a blockade on Ansar Allah-held Hodeida in retaliatio­n for Ansar Allah missile attacks on Saudi Arabia. Rights groups now fear for civilians, as fighting nears two hospitals in the area.

A medical source said on Wednesday that the Ansar Allah had forced medical staff out of the May 22 Hospital — one of Hodeida’s main medical facilities — and stationed snipers on top of the building.

Unicef warned on Tuesday the fighting was dangerousl­y close to Al Thawra hospital in southern Hodeida, and was endangerin­g the lives of 59 children.

The clashes come as the United Nations pushes to restart negotiatio­ns between the warring parties, after planned talks in Geneva in September failed. The Internatio­nal Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday appealed for warring parties to “spare civilians and civilian infrastruc­ture” including ambulances, hospitals, electricit­y and water plants.

“Families are staying in schools — each classroom housing two or three families — which makes it an average of 20 people in the classroom with nothing whatsoever,” said Mirella Hodeib, ICRC spokesman in Sanaa.

“ICRC urges all parties to respect internatio­nal humanitari­an law... and to allow for the safe passage of civilians who want to flee the active conflict zones.” Hodeida, one of the last Ansar Allah stronghold­s on Yemen’s western coast, was seized by the rebels along with the capital Sanaa in 2014.

 ??  ?? A ship carrying a shipment of grain is docked at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen. — Reuters
A ship carrying a shipment of grain is docked at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen. — Reuters

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