Suspected strike by Saudi-led bloc kills four in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen — A suspected airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Shiite rebels hit a radio station in the Red Sea port province of Hodeida on Sunday, killing at least four people, a rebel official said.

The minister of information in the pro-rebel government, Abdel-salam Gabir, said three security guards and an employee were among those killed in the attack.

Fighting has been raging around Hodeida as Yemeni government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition are trying to retake the city from the rebels, known as the Houthis.

The latest offensive began this month following the failure of what was hoped to be renewed peace talks in Geneva. It was concentrated in the eastern and southern entrances to the city, considered the lifeline of Yemen.

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, arrived in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa, on Sunday in an effort to forge agreement on a new date for peace talks, Yemeni officials said. They said Griffiths met with Abdul-malek al-houthi, the leader of the rebels, and other rebel officials.

Griffiths met last week with representatives of the rebels in Muscat, Oman’s capital, to discuss ways to ensure their participation in future consultations.

He last week downplayed the significance of the failure to launch peace talks, saying on Saturday that he would head back to Yemen and neighboring Oman “within days” to work toward an agreement on a new date.

A delegation of the government arrived in Geneva last week for the talks, which were supposed to start Sept. 6. The Houthis did not, arguing their safe return was not guaranteed.

Shortly after the failure to launch peace talks, the government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition renewed their offensive to retake the rebel-held Hodeida.

Impoverished Yemen has been embroiled in the war pitting the Saudi-led coalition against the Iranaligned Houthis since March 2015.