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Clashes reach residential streets in Yemen’s Hodeida
HODEIDA, Yemen, Nov 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Fighting for control of Yemen’s
rebel-held city of Hodeida reached residential streets on Sunday, as the
Huthi insurgents mounted fierce resistance to government forces backed by
Saudi Arabia, military sources said.
Troops entered residential streets in eastern Hodeida with the aim of
“purging them of insurgents,” according to a pro-government military
official.
Fears for civilian safety have been rising since the loyalist forces
renewed an operation to take Hodeida, which has been under the control of
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels since 2014.
More than 400 combatants have been killed in 10 days of clashes in the city
on Yemen’s Red Sea coastline that is home to the impoverished country’s most
important port. Hodeida is a vital lifeline for Yemenis across the war-torn
country, as the majority of imports and humanitarian aid enter through its
port.
The docks have been blockaded by the Saudi-led alliance since November 2017
over what the coalition says is arms smuggling from Iran to the Huthis.
Tehran denies the charge.
Aid groups have urged warring parties to keep the port open.
“We cannot predict what will happen in the future, but at the moment there
are no problems,” Yahya Sharafeddine, deputy director of Hodeida port, told
AFP.
Pro-government fighters moved into the neighbourhood between the May 22
hospital — the largest in Hodeida — and Sanaa Road, which links the port
city to inland Yemen.
Fighters clashed around the Al-Waha (Oasis) Resort, closing in on a
civilian district located south of the hospital and north of Sanaa Road.
The World Health Organization estimates nearly 10,000 people have been
killed since 2015, when Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the government’s
war against the Huthis, driving the insurgents from the Red Sea coastline but
failing to retake Hodeida.
Other rights groups believe the toll may be five times as high.
The conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world’s worst
humanitarian crisis, with 14 million Yemenis at risk of starvation.
BSS/AFP/RY/1623 hrs