HOUTHIS RETREAT AS ARAB COALITION RESTARTS OFFENSIVE TO FREE HODEIDAH

▶ The operation had been paused to allow time for peace talks to be held. However rebels failed to show up in Geneva

The Arab-led coalition in Yemen has relaunched an offensive to recapture the vital Red Sea port city of Hodeidah after Houthi rebels failed to attend recent peace talks.

The multipronged operation comes after Yemeni government troops, backed by the coalition, took control of a key Houthi supply line known as Kilo 16. The route links Hodeidah to the occupied capital of Sanaa, Brig Ali Al Tunaiji, commander of the Arab Coalition task force for the Red Sea coast, told state news agency Wam.

“The Saudi-led Arab Coalition forces continue military operations on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, in co-operation with the Joint Yemeni Resistance forces through strategic military plans [not expected] by the collapsing militias whose positions are falling one by one,” Brig Al Tunaiji said. The advances had forced Houthi rebels to fall back from frontline positions, abandoning weapons, equipment and dead fighters, he said.

The coalition-backed forces took control of “strategic areas in the Hodeidah front and cut rebel supply lines”.

Brig Al Tunaiji said the operation would be done in a way that minimised the effect on civilians in the city, many of whom have been prevented from leaving by rebels and “are being used as human shields by the militias”.

The military commander singled out the pro-government Al Amalikah Brigades of the South Yemen Movement for special mention because of their “superb fighting spirit” while leading the fighting against Houthi rebels. He said thousands of well-trained Joint Yemeni Resistance fighters “had joined the operation to secure the liberated areas in Hodeidah and to deal with any desperate infiltration moves by the Houthis”.

The offensive to recapture Hodeidah was paused to allow time for UN-led efforts to hold peace talks. Special envoy Martin Griffiths regularly travelled between Aden, Sanaa and international backers to lay the groundwork for the first talks in two years.

But although all parties agreed to attend a meeting in Geneva on September 6, the Houthi delegation never left Sanaa after making last-minute demands.

With talks stalled, the coalition said the military offensive to recapture Hodeidah would be restarted. The coalition has repeatedly called for Houthi rebels to vacate the city and hand the vital docks – used to bring tonnes of aid into the country – over to the UN.

With Houthis digging in among the civilian population a military offensive could be slow and costly, the coalition fears.

Meanwhile, in the Al Durayhimi district of Hodeidah, Houthi rebels were accused of turning a mosque into a military prison. Wam reported that the rebels burnt some of the rooms of the complex and positioned snipers and fighters in the roof and minaret.

Wam said that in recent years, hundreds of mosques across the country had been used to garrison fighters, targeted by shelling or used as firing positions. A member of the UAE Armed Forces, operating as part of the Arab Coalition, said Houthis had laid mines around the mosque entrance and on village roads.

“Most of the mines have been removed and neutralised for the safety of the innocent civilians and in line with the Arab Coalition’s objectives,” he said.

The Houthi rebels abandoned weapons, equipment and dead fighters as they fell back from frontline positions