Hodeida clashes intensify as assault on port city looms
UNKNOWN GUNMEN SHOOT DEAD PRO-GOVERNMENT ARMY COLONEL IN CENTRAL TAIZ
Clashes between coalition-backed Yemeni troops and the Iranbacked Al Houthis intensified near Yemen’s Hodeida over the weekend as the United Nations tries to negotiate a ceasefire to avert a possible assault on the main port city, military sources said.
The Red Sea port is a lifeline for eight million Yemenis, handling most of the country’s commercial imports and aid supplies.
Also, heavy fighting erupted on Friday and Saturday in Al Durahami, a rural area where UAE-led troops are now 10km south of Hodeida, and in Bayt Al Faqih, 35km from the city, local military sources said. Coalition warplanes and warships launched strikes targeting Al Houthis, they added.
On Sunday, Yemeni security officials said gunmen shot dead a pro-government army colonel in the southwestern city of Taiz.
They say Col. Radwan elWassabi was shot dead and at least four of his guards were wounded late Saturday in central Taiz. The city is split between government and militia control. It was unclear who was behind the shooting.
UN Yemen mediator Martin Griffiths has been holding talks with Al Houthis to hand over control of the port to the United Nations, Yemeni political sources have said.
UN peace plan
A broader UN peace plan calls on Al Houthis to give up their missiles in return for an end to a coalition bombing campaign and a transitional governance deal, according to a draft document and sources.
Previous UN efforts have failed to end the more than three-year-old conflict which pits Al Houthis, who seized the capital Sana’a in 2014, against Yemeni forces loyal to exiled President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced three million and unleashed the world’s most urgent humanitarian crisis in the impoverished Arab state which is struggling with a famine and cholera epidemic. On Saturday, Al Houthi militia in Yemen fired a “projectile” at the southwestern Saudi province of Jazan, killing three civilians, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the insurgents said.
“The terrorist Iranian-Al Houthi militia has targeted civilians with a projectile” killing three in Jazan, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al Maliki said.
Al Maliki, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency, did not identify the type of “projectile” but said it was “launched deliberately to target civilians” and warned of retaliation.
“The Joint Forces Command of the coalition will strike with an iron fist all those who threaten the safety and security of Saudi nationals, residents and critical capabilities,” he said.
UAE aid to Socotra
Meanwhile, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation dispatched a ship loaded with humanitarian and food aid to the Yemeni island of Socotra. The Foundation’s team began distributing the relief aid among affected citizens. The aid included 7,000 food baskets, 4,732 blankets, 358 tents and 338 food containers.