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150 killed in battle for Yemen’s Hodeida as global alarm grows
HODEIDA, Yemen, Nov 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least 150 people have been
killed in 24 hours of clashes in Yemen’s Hodeida, medics and military sources
said Monday, as international pressure mounted for a ceasefire in the vital
port city.
Government loyalists supported by a Saudi-led coalition are fighting to
oust the Iran-backed Huthi rebels from the Red Sea city, whose docks are a
lifeline to 14 million Yemenis at risk of starvation.
“If the port at Hodeida is destroyed, that could create an absolutely
catastrophic situation,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned.
“The fighting must stop, a political debate must begin, and we must
prepare a massive humanitarian response to avoid the worst next year,” he
said.
A military source in the pro-government coalition said the insurgents had
pushed back a large-scale assault aimed at moving towards the port, under
rebel control since 2014.
In a statement sent via the Telegram messaging app, the Huthis said they
had “lured” loyalists up the western coastline of Hodeida, where the rebels
then launched an attack on the troops.
Government forces, led on the ground by Emirati-backed troops, have made
their way into Hodeida after 11 days of clashes, reaching residential
neighbourhoods in the east on Sunday and sparking fears of street fights that
would further endanger civilians trapped in the city.
Residents and government military sources have reported rebel snipers
stationed on rooftops in civilian streets in eastern Hodeida, a few
kilometres (miles) from the port on the western edge of the city.
Mariam Aldogani, Save the Children’s field coordinator in Yemen, said that
the people in Hodeida are living in a “state of fear”.
“There is ongoing fighting, and the situation is very bad,” she told AFP
over the weekend by phone, as strikes were heard in the background.
– ‘Enough is enough’ –
The Hodeida offensive has sparked international outcry unprecedented in
nearly four years of conflict between the Huthis and the Saudi-backed
government.
Britain, the United States and France have all called for a cessation to
the hostilities. All three countries are major suppliers of arms to Saudi
Arabia.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, a major ally of Washington, to engage in peace talks.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt met with Saudi King Salman on Monday
during a visit to the kingdom to press its rulers to support UN efforts to
end the conflict. Hunt will also meet senior officials from Yemen and the
crown prince of the United Arab Emirates, a key pillar of the Saudi-led
coalition supporting the Yemeni government, this week.
In France, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said it was time “the
international community said enough is enough.
“There will be no victor in this war,” Le Drian told France 2 TV.
– Civilian toll –
Aid groups fear for the safety of hundreds of thousands of people living in
Hodeida — and for millions of others dependent on its port for what little
food and humanitarian aid trickle into impoverished, blockaded Yemen.
A military official in Hodeida on Monday confirmed seven civilians had
died, without giving further details.
A 15-year-old boy died last week of shrapnel wounds in Hodeida, Save the
Children said.
Medics in hospitals across Hodeida province reported 111 rebels and 32
loyalist fighters killed overnight, according to a tally by AFP.
Sources at the Al-Alfi military hospital, seized by the rebels during
their 2014 takeover, said charred body parts had been delivered there
overnight. Military sources confirmed that the Saudi-led alliance had
targeted the rebels with multiple air strikes.
The rebels have begun to evacuate their wounded to Sanaa, the capital,
which the Huthis seized during a 2014 takeover that included a string of
ports on Yemen’s coastline.
Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in the Yemeni government’s fight
against the Huthis in 2015, triggering what the UN now calls the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis.
Nearly 600 people have been killed since clashes erupted in Hodeida on
November 1, ending a temporary suspension in a government offensive to take
the city that began in June.
– Diplomatic pressure –
The coalition has come under intense international pressure to end the
conflict, particularly following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal
Khashoggi, an ardent critic of Prince Mohammed, in his country’s consulate in
Istanbul on October 2.
Multiple countries, including Germany and Norway, have announced the
suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi’s killing.
The United Nations’ Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, is pushing for peace
talks between the Huthis and the government by the end of the year.
The United States, which for years provided military training and aerial
refuelling for the Saudi-led coalition, on Saturday announced it would end
its inflight refuelling support for the alliance.
The alliance accuses Iran of smuggling arms to the Huthis through Hodeida
port. Tehran denies the charges.
BSS/AFP/RY/20:01 hrs