Aden: Forces from an Arab alliance entered the airport in Yemen's main port city of Hodeidah on Saturday, the media office of the Yemeni military allied with the Saudi- and UAE-led coalition said.
Control of the airport would be an important early success for the coalition fighting to seize the country's largest port from the Iran-aligned Houthis, in the biggest battle of a three-year war.
"Army forces backed by the resistance and the Arab alliance freed Hodeidah international airport from the grip of the Houthi militia," the media office said on Twitter on Saturday.
The report came ahead of the arrival of the UN envoy for Yemen arrived in the rebel-held capital Sanaa for talks on the key aid port of Hodeida.
A source with the coalition-backed Yemeni military said troops had surrounded the main airport building.
"We need some time to make sure there are no gunmen, mines or explosive in the building," the source said.
The media office said technical teams were now trying to remove mines left by Houthis in the surrounding area.
The Western-backed alliance led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE says it can swiftly capture the port, the only one the Houthis control, without major disruption to aid supplies in a country already experiencing the world's most pressing humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations, which struggled but failed to find a diplomatic path to head off the assault, fears the fighting will cut off the only lifeline for most Yemenis.
Around 22 million people in Yemen depend on the humanitarian aid efforts, with 8.4 million at risk of starvation.
UN envoy in Yemen for emergency talks on Hodeida
The UN envoy for Yemen arrived in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Saturday for talks on the key aid port of Hodeida where rebel fighters are battling a regional coalition.
Martin Griffiths is expected to propose to rebel leaders that they cede control of the Red Sea port to a UN-supervised committee to avoid further fighting with advancing government troops which are backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Some 70 perccent of Yemeni imports pass through the city's docks and the fighting has raised UN fears of humanitarian catastrophe in a country already teetering on the brink of famine.
With input from Reuters & AFP
