Civil war shifts focus to port city, gateway for most of Yemen’s food
The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government captured a town south of the port city of Hodeida on Thursday as fierce fighting and airstrikes pounded the area on the second day of an offensive to capture the strategic harbor that is the main entry point for food in a country teetering on the brink of famine.
A Saudi military spokesman said the forces were drawing closer to the Red Sea port in a campaign aimed at driving out Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who have held Hodeida since 2015, and breaking the civil war’s long stalemate.
International aid agencies and the United Nations have warned the assault could shut down the vital aid route for approximately 70 percent of Yemen’s food, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of Yemen’s population of 27 million relies on aid, and 8.4 million are at risk of starving.
The United Arab Emirates ambassador to U.N. agencies in Geneva maintained the Saudi-Emirati coalition had no choice but to act.
“Should we leave the Houthis smuggling missiles?” Ambassador Obaid Salem al-Zaabi said at a news conference. “This comes from this seaport. We already gave the United Nations the chance to operate from this seaport, and (the Houthis) refused.”
The ambassador’s comments contradict the conclusions of a U.N. panel of experts that said it was unlikely the Houthis were using the port for smuggling arms. In a report in January, the panel cited the fact that ships coming into the port face random inspections, require U.N. approval and that no weapons have been seized since March 2017.
The U.N. and Western nations have accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with weapons, from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh. More than 150 ballistic missiles have been fired into the kingdom by the Houthis, according to Saudi officials.
On Thursday, a senior UAE official said the Trump administration has rejected requests for military assistance in the coalition attack on Hodeida. The requests were for aerial satellite imagery, other surveillance and reconnaissance, and minesweeping, said the official. The U.S. has not publicly opposed the assault but has urged the coalition to ensure that humanitarian aid deliveries to the port continue.
The port remained open Thursday, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, which cited information from the U.N. There were “four vessels filled with food and fuel at berth” and another five vessels anchored nearby, it said.