Coalition takes Yemen port neighbourhood
sanaa — Troops from a USbacked, Saudi-led coalition pounded Houthi rebel positions in Yemen’s Hodeida with air strikes and a ground assault on Wednesday and now control a major road leading into the city, military officials and witnesses on both sides of the frontline said.
An Emirati-trained force known as the Giants, backed by Apache attack helicopters, secured an urban area along 50th Street, which leads to the city’s key Red Sea port facilities some 5km away, they added.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals or lack of authorisation to brief journalists, they said that the Iran-backed rebels had been firing mainly from elevated and rooftop sniper positions, and have now resorted to burning tyres to obscure the gunships’ view. Most civilians have fled the area, they said.
The fighting has left bodies lying on the ground and inside vehicles at the city’s edge. —
aden — Yemeni pro-government forces advanced closer to rebelheld Hodeida overnight, a military source said on Wednesday, raising fears over humanitarian aid deliveries through the lifeline port city.
Yemeni military officials and witnesses on both sides of the Hodeida front line say the Saudi-led coalition has pounded Houthi rebel positions with airstrikes and a ground assault and now controls a major road leading into the key port city.
They say an Emirati-trained force known as the Giants, backed by Apache attack helicopters, secured on Wednesday an urban area along 50th Street, which leads to the city’s key port facilities some 5km away.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals or lack of authorisation to brief journalists, they say the Iran-backed Houthi rebels had been firing mainly from elevated and rooftop sniper positions, and have now resorted to burning tyres to obscure the gunships’ view.
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 pro-government forces moved towards the Red Sea port on foot and on the back of pickup 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.
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. —