Civilians killed as Houthis shell district south of Hodeidah
Fifteen civilians were killed on Thursday when Houthi rebels shelled the heart of a district to the south of the Red Sea port of Hodeidah.
“The civilians were killed in Al Tuhayta”, Khalil Al Zekri, a journalist embedded with the Yemeni armed forces, told The National. “Most of them women and children.”
He said the Houthis began shelling on Thursday morning when no forces loyal to the internationally recognised government or the Arab Coalition were in town.
Earlier, pro-government forces and coalition partners thwarted two attacks by the Houthis in Al Tuhayta and Al Duraihimi.
The rebels attacked the loyalist Al Amalikah Brigades in an effort to retake central Al Tuhayta, which was taken from them this month, Al Zekri said. He said at least 17 Houthis were killed and dozens surrendered.
Al Amalikah Brigade and Tihama Resistance, a collective of forces with the goal of taking Hodeidah, launched an offensive against Houthi hideouts in the villages of Al Kuraima and Al Maslab on the outskirts of Al Tuhayta.
In Al Duraihimi, dozens of Houthis were killed when they attacked pro-government forces. At least seven civilians, including children, died in Houthi shelling, a security source said.
Meanwhile, France’s envoy for Yemen met Houthi officials in Sanaa on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
“The objective of [Christian Testot’s] visit was humanitarian, to update the Houthis on the results of the June 27 experts meeting and to see what concrete results can be achieved,” a French diplomatic source said.
France downgraded a conference on Yemen in June after pro-government forces and the Arab Coalition launched an offensive on Hodeidah.
The Yemen government and the alliance say the Houthis must withdraw fully and unconditionally from Hodeidah, while the rebels have agreed only to share control of the city with the UN.
Rebel efforts to take back ground lost to pro-government fighters cost the lives of at least 17 Houthis