Cairo: Yemeni government forces on Monday pressed on with their advance on the militant-held costal city of Hodeida, military sources said.
Earlier this month, the forces, supported by a Saudi-led air alliance, unleashed a major offensive to liberate Hodeida in western Yemen from Iran-allied Al Houthis.
Coalition forces have since made territorial gains, including recapturing the city’s airport, which lies around 10 kilometres from its vital harbour.
“The whole Western Coast has been liberated,” said Brig. Abdu Majli, the spokesman for the Yemeni army.
“We have reached to the edges of the Hodeida city,” he told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television.
Al Houthis have been in control of the Red Sea city since October 2014, a month after they seized the capital Sana’a from the internationally-recognised government.
The fight for Hodeida has raised international concerns about the humanitarian situation of the city’s population of about 600,000 people.
“We have a plan to protect the citizens inside the city and impose a siege on Al Houthi officials,” Majli said.
The Arab Coalition accuses Al Houthis of using civilians in the city and positioning military hardware in residential areas in order to hamper its forces’ advance into Hodeida.
The alliance also charges Al Houthis of using Hodeida as a launch pad for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and for smuggling in weapons in from Iran.
Hodeida is strategically important because its port is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, as most of the commercial imports and relief supplies enter through it to the country.
“We want to transform the harbour, from a point of smuggling weapons for Al Houthsi into an artery for the Yemeni people to get humanitarian aid,” Majli said.
On Monday, the coalition said its forces killed eight terrorists of Lebanon’s group Hezbollah in northern Yemen, near the Saudi border.
“The coalition killed 41 terrorist elements in Maran and destroyed their vehicles and equipment. Among the dead were eight members of Lebanese Hezbollah, including a commander,” coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al Maliki said in a statement.
Maran is in Saada province, an Al Houthi stronghold.
It was the first official announcement by the coalition of Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists being killed in Yemen although Al Maliki told AFP it was “not the first time”.
In a November interview with CNN, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir accused Hezbollah of firing a missile provided by Iran at the kingdom from Yemeni territory.
On Friday, the UAE unveiled a detailed plan to make sure vital aid reaches Hodeida citizens in need.
In recent weeks, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have intensified aid deliveries to Ymenen, including liberated areas in Al Hodeida.
The Yemen government said it would also set up a field hospital in the area opf the Western Coast.
Al Houthis have in recent months ramped up missile attacks against neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
On Sunday, Saudi air forces intercepted and destroyed two missiles fired by Al Houthis towards the Saudi capital Riyadh.
The Yemeni army said Monday its forces had carried out an operation in the province of Saada, considered Al Houthis’ stronghold near the Saudi border.
The operation resulted in the capture of a senior Al Houthi leader and seven military experts from the Iran-allied Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.
At least 2,000 Al Houthis have been killed in a week-old fight between pro-government forces and the militants in Saada, Maj.Gen. Abdul Karim Al Sadai, the commander of the Third Brigade, said, according to the Yemeni army’s website.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia and allies, including the UAE, launched a military campaign in Yemen after Al Houthis advanced on the southern city of Aden, the temporary seat of the government, after the militants overran Sana’a in a coup months earlier.
Coalition to seek India support over Hodeida offensive
In an interview with “The Hindu”, a leading newspaper in the south Indian city of Chennai, the UAE ambassador to India, Dr. Ahmad Al Banna said he was seeking India’s support in the current offensive on Hodeida.
“The operation for Hodeida is ongoing and its main target is to fight terrorism that is a common enemy of both India and the UAE. Therefore, support from allies like India will be appreciated, especially in view of our exceptional strategic relationship with India,” the ambassador said.
“India can help by extending diplomatic support to the Hodeida operation at international platforms. The campaign is in accordance with the resolutions of the UN and invitation from the legitimate government of Yemen. Our Foreign Minister will brief his Indian counterpart on the issue,” he explained.
“The Arab coalition also includes non-Arab partners and we have remained open to granting a role to India to support in diplomacy for peace in the Gulf.”
