BFF-69 Renewed battle for Yemen’s Hodeida sparks humanitarian crisis fears

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Renewed battle for Yemen’s Hodeida sparks humanitarian crisis fears

ADEN, Sept 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen
launched a series of attacks on rebel-held Hodeida, military officials said
Tuesday, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis as an 11-week pause in the
battle for the port city ended.

The Huthi rebels accused the government and its Saudi-led allies of
deliberately targeting food warehouses on Monday night, as the coalition said
it had resumed a “military operation to liberate Hodeida and its port”.

Pro-government forces and medical sources in Hodeida province told AFP that
40 Huthis had been killed around the port city since Monday night.

The fight for Hodeida, which the Huthis seized in 2014, was put on hold for
11 weeks as the United Nations struggled to bring warring parties to peace
talks in Geneva.

But the talks collapsed earlier this month after the northern Yemeni rebels
refused to attend.

The Red Sea port of Hodeida is a vital lifeline for aid shipments to Yemen,
the most impoverished country in the Arab world.

The United Nations has warned that any major fighting could halt the
distribution of food to eight million Yemenis dependent on the supplies to
survive.

– Claims over food warehouses –

Brigadier General Ali al-Taniji, commander of coalition forces on Yemen’s
west coast, confirmed the alliance had launched an operation in Hodeida, in a
statement to state media in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia’s main
partner in the coalition.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior coalition official told AFP
the operation was being fought on multiple fronts.

Residents in and around the city, home to 600,000 people, reported hearing
explosions throughout Monday night.

The Huthis accused the coalition of targeting food supply warehouses in the
raids, claiming the international community was complicit in the attacks.

“International food supply warehouses were targeted in Hodeida, a clear
sign that there is a plan… to make warehouses and densely populated
neighbourhoods legitimate targets of their terrorist operations,” said the
head of the rebels’ Supreme Revolutionary Council, Mohammed Ali al-Huthi.

“International tolerance of terrorism has only encouraged (the coalition)
to plan and deliberately commit crimes,” Huthi said.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition did not respond to a request for
comment, while a World Food Programme spokeswoman declined to say whether the
UN agency’s facilities had been hit.

Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse the Huthis of smuggling arms from Iran
through Hodeida, a charge the rebels and Tehran deny, and they have imposed a
partial blockade on the port.

UN envoy Martin Griffiths left the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday, ending
a three-day trip.

Progress was made to resume consultations and confidence-building measures,
including the reopening of Sanaa airport to commercial flights and the
release of prisoners, the envoy’s office said in a statement.

The UN envoy will be heading to Riyadh on Wednesday.

Griffiths is pushing for new peace negotiations after the Geneva talks
failed to get off the ground, with the Huthis saying they had not received
guarantees for their safe return home afterwards.

– Humanitarian flights –

The United Nations on Monday announced it was working to open a
humanitarian air bridge to transport Yemeni cancer patients abroad for
treatment.

The Huthis said plans to fly patients out of Sanaa on Tuesday had been
foiled by the coalition, accusing it of failing to cooperate.

World Health Organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told AFP there was “no
date set for the first flight” pending “final approval from all parties”.

While the rebels control the capital, Saudi Arabia and its allies control
Yemen’s airspace and have put Sanaa’s international airport under blockade.

In wheelchairs and carrying sick babies, Yemenis in the rebel-held capital
lined up Tuesday outside the health ministry as rumours of the impending
flight spread.

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Yemen’s ambassador to the UN, said his government
was willing to “do whatever it takes to alleviate the suffering and pain of
Yemenis”, in a letter to Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

But he asked that the UN and all its branches not sign agreements “except
with the legitimate, internationally recognised government of Yemen”.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a major operation to retake Hodeida in
June before announcing the pause for peace talks.

The troops, backed by coalition air strikes, have retaken a number of towns
across Hodeida province but have not yet breached the city.

The Saudi-led alliance intervened in the Yemen conflict in 2015 in a bid to
bolster embattled Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, whose government
is recognised by the United Nations, in his war against the Huthis.

Nearly 10,000 people have since been killed and the United Nations says
Yemen is now facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

BSS/AFP/MRI/2329 HRS