People flee assault on Yemeni port

ARAB warplanes and warships pounded Houthi positions in Yemen’s Hodeidah as a Saudiled alliance tried to seize the main port in a war that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Apache attack helicopters bombed a strip of coastal territory near the city’s airport, two residents told Reuters on the second day of the battle.

“The fighting is getting close to the airport and people are fleeing in fear,” said Mohammed Abdullah, an employee of the Houthi administration in the city.

Coalition forces were just 2km from the airport, the UAE’s ambassador to the UN, Obeid Salem Al Zaabi, said in Geneva.

Coalition- backed Yemeni forces took control of al-Durayhmi in southern Hodiedah province, an armed forces faction said in a statement.

The UN is struggling to avert disruption to the port, the main lifeline for food aid to a country where 8.4 million people are on the verge of starvation.

A UN diplomatic source said five commercial vessels were offloading at the port.

The Arab coalition also struck the main road linking Hodeidah to the capital Sanaa to block reinforcements, residents and anti-Houthi military officials said.

“The situation is dire and we don’t know how it will end,” said Khadija, a teacher in Hodeidah.

The Iran-aligned Houthis control Sanaa and most of Yemen’s populated areas.

The Arab states have been fighting since 2015 to unseat them, restore an exiled Saudibacked government and halt what they see as Iranian expansionism.

Ousted president AbdRabbu Mansour Hadi, who lives in exile in Saudi Arabia, arrived in Aden on Thursday in his first trip to the southern city in over a year.

Capturing Hodeidah, the Houthis’ only port, would give the coalition the upper hand in the war.

The US and other Western powers provide arms and intelligence to the Arab alliance and human rights groups criticise them over the airstrikes, which have led to hundreds of civilian deaths.

At the same time, the UN says 22 million Yemenis need humanitarian aid and the number at risk of starvation could more than double by year-end unless access improves.

The world body said it was still bringing in aid.

“We are delivering, we are not leaving Hodeidah,” UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Yemen Lise Grande said.

The Arab states say they must recapture Hodeidah to deprive the Houthis of their main source of income and prevent them from bringing in missiles from Iran, dozens of which have been fired at Saudi Arabia in recent months.

Saudi air defences intercepted a missile over the southern city of Khamis Mushait on Thursday, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV reported.

Houthi-run Al Masirah television said the missile hit its target, an air base.

Arab diplomats say there are plans to prevent the battle from worsening to a humanitarian disaster and they will be able to improve food supplies once they control the port. – Reuters