U.N. withdraws from key port city, fearing offensive

The United Nations was withdrawing its staff Monday from the besieged Yemeni port city of Hodeida, after member countries were told that an attack by forces led by the United Arab Emirates was imminent, according to two diplomats briefed on the matter.

The evacuation followed a weekend of frantic diplomacy by international officials to stave off what many see as an impending humanitarian and military catastrophe in Yemen’s continuing civil war.

Hodeida is a crucial port city of 600,000 people that is the gateway for approximately 80 percent of the humanitarian aid entering Yemen. For the past two years, it has been held by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who ousted the government three years ago.

Fighting the Houthis is a mix of Yemeni tribal forces and Islamist groups backed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. That coalition has long sought to seize the city to deny the Houthis a vital piece of territory while giving the Arab nations an upper hand in peace negotiations.

The Arab-led coalition and the U.S. military say the rebels have been smuggling arms through Hodeida, including missiles that the Houthis have used to attack Saudi Arabia.

But any full-scale attack on the port would be highly contentious. U.S. officials have warned the Emirati and Saudi governments that an offensive would result in a quagmire. The United Nations says it could cause more than a quarter of a million civilian casualties.

Yemen is already classified as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. More than 75 percent of the population is dependent on food aid and millions are on the brink of starvation.