Saudi-led forces leading an assault on Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida have seized control of its international airport.

Fierce fighting continued around what is the main gateway for food and aid supplies into Yemen, which is on the brink of famine.

The media office of the pro-alliance Yemeni military said on Twitter: "Army forces backed by the resistance and the Arab alliance freed Hodeida international airport from the grip of the Houthi militia."

Fighting in the airport area has led to the closure of the northern entrance of Hodeida, which leads to Sanaa, residents said.

Image: Yemeni pro-government forces gather at the south of Hodeida airport

This has blocked a key exit out of the city and made it more difficult to transport goods from the port.

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Aly Omar, whose son was wounded in an airstrike, said he and his family spent three days trapped in the Manzar neighbourhood next to the airport as fighting raged around them.

He said: "We didn't have any food, or drink or anything, not even water.

"I call on the United Nations and the Red Cross to open a way for us to get out of the situation we're in. Our kids, women and elderly are stuck."

Image: The city is a crucial entry point for aid

The number of dead rose to 280 by the fourth day of the campaign which is aiming to drive out the Iranian-backed Shia rebels, known as Houthis, from the Red Sea port of Hodeida.

The Saudi-led coalition began its assault on Wednesday and Emirati forces are leading ground forces combined with their own troops, irregular militiamen and soldiers backing Yemen's exiled government.

Saudi Arabia has provided air support with targeting guidance and refuelling is being supplied by the US.

Image: Yemenis visit the graves of relatives at a cemetery in Sanaa on 15 June

Aid groups and the United Nations cautioned the coalition from launching the assault amid fears that a drawn-out conflict could force a shutdown of Hodeida's port at a time when a halt in aid risks tipping millions into starvation.

About 70% of Yemen's food enters the country through the port, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies.

Some two-thirds of the country's population of 27 million rely on aid and 8.4 million are already at risk of starvation.

The coalition says it had no choice but to launch the assault as the port provided millions of dollars for the Houthis through customs controls.

Saudis near victory in battle for key Yemeni port

They also say the Houthis have been using the port to smuggle weapons through, although UN experts have said this is "unlikely" as incoming ships require UN permission and are randomly searched.

The UN and Western governments say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons ranging from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

The coalition has blocked most ports and allowed supplies into Hodeida in co-ordination with the UN.

The air campaign and fighting have disrupted other supply lines which has triggered an economic crisis that makes food too expensive for many to afford.

Aid agencies and the UN evacuated international staff from the city before the offensive began.

Injured people who are able to flee have been driving onto Aden, about 195 miles away, after being treated at a hospital in Mocha on the way, according to the aid group Doctors Without Borders.

Battle for key port in Yemen begins amid warnings from aid agencies

Thousands remain trapped in the city and around the airport because of the fighting.

Relief worker Saber Wasel said: "Families are trapped inside and it is difficult leaving as they are coming under airstrikes and bombardment by both parties of the war.

"It was a hard night for citizens because of the intensity of the strikes and gunfire."

The coalition has implemented an air, sea and land embargo on Yemen since 2015.

The airstrikes and Houthi bombardment have left more than 10,000 people dead and two million displaced along with devastation of the country's infrastructure.

Many hospitals and health centres have been destroyed which has created a cholera epidemic.</s>SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Saudi-led forces heading an assault on Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida seized control of its international airport Saturday, officials loyal to Yemen's exiled government said, as fierce fighting continued for the starving nation's main gateway for food shipments.

Engineers worked from Saturday morning to clear mines from areas around Hodeida International Airport, just south of the city of some 600,000 people on the Red Sea, the military of Yemen's exiled government said.

Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who hold the country's capital of Sanaa, did not immediately acknowledge losing the airport.

However, the Houthi-run Al Masirah satellite news channel aired footage it described as being from near Hodeida showing a burned-out truck, corpses of irregular fighters and a damaged Emirati armored vehicle. The Iranian-aligned fighters rifled through a military ledger from the vehicle before chanting their slogan: "Death to America, death to Israel, damn the Jews, victory to Islam!"

The Saudi-led coalition began its assault Wednesday on Hodeida, the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine. Emirati forces are leading ground forces mixed with their own troops, irregular militiamen and soldiers backing Yemen's exiled government. Saudi Arabia has provided air support, with targeting guidance and refueling coming from the U.S.

International aid groups and the United Nations cautioned the Saudi-led coalition from launching the assault. Their fear is that a protracted fight could force a shutdown of Hodeida's port at a time when a halt in aid risks tipping millions into starvation. Some 70 percent of Yemen's food enters via the port, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of the country's population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are already at risk of starving.

For its part, the Saudi-led coalition says it had no choice but to launch the assault as the port provided millions of dollars for the Houthis through customs controls. They also accuse the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons through, something a U.N. panels of experts described in January as "unlikely" as incoming ships require U.N. permission and are subject to random searches.

The U.N. and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons, from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

The coalition has blocked most ports, letting supplies into Hodeida in coordination with the U.N. The air campaign and fighting have disrupted other supply lines, causing an economic crisis that makes food too expensive for many to afford.

Aid agencies and the U.N. evacuated international staff from the city ahead of the offensive. Some of the wounded able to flee are driving onto Aden, some 315 kilometers (195 miles) away, after being stabilized at a hospital in Mocha on the way, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said. The local hospital in Hodeida already is struggling to help the wounded, the group said.

Thousands remain besieged in the city and around the airport due to the fighting.

"Families are trapped inside and it is difficult leaving as they are coming under airstrikes and bombardment by both parties of the war," relief worker Saber Wasel told The Associated Press. "It was a hard night for citizens because of the intensity of the strikes and gunfire."

The Houthis seized control of Sanaa in September 2014, later pushing south toward the port city of Aden. The Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in March 2015 and has faced criticism for a campaign of airstrikes killing civilians and destroying hospitals and markets.

The Houthis meanwhile have laid land mines killing and wounding civilians, targeted religious minorities and imprisoned opponents.

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report.</s>Yemeni official say Saudi-led forces have seized the airport in Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemeni official say Saudi-led forces have seized the airport in Yemen’s rebel-held port city of Hodeida.

The military loyal to Yemen’s exiled government issued a statement Saturday morning saying that engineers now were trying to remove mines left by the Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge losing the airport.

Hodeida International Airport is on the south side of the city home to some 600,000. So far, fighting has yet to enter Hodeida’s downtown or its crucial port.

The Saudi-led coalition began its assault Wednesday on Hodeida, the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine.

International aid groups and the United Nations have warned the fighting could affect food imports.</s>SANAA, Yemen >> Saudi-led forces fought to retake the international airport of Yemen’s rebel-held port city of Hodeida, Yemeni officials and witnesses said on Saturday, as their Shiite Houthi rebel rivals denied the coalition had seized the facility that is the starving nation’s main gateway for food shipments.

With battles raging at the southern side of Hodeida International Airport, the military of Yemen’s exiled government said it had entirely seized the compound, and that engineers were working to clear mines from nearby areas just south of the city of some 600,000 people on the Red Sea.

“The armed forces which are supported by the Arab coalition have freed Hodeida International Airport from the Houthi militias and the engineering teams have started to clear the airport and its surroundings from mines and bombs,” the military said on its official Twitter account.

Sadek Dawad, spokesman of the Republican Guards force loyal to the Saudi-led coalition, said government forces had battled their way onto the airport’s grounds.

Dawad also said the southern gate of Hodeida city was captured by pro-coalition forces.

“The military operations to liberate the city of Hodeida will not be stopped until we secure the city and its strategic port and that won’t last too long,” he told The Associated Press.

Houthi-linked civil aviation authorities, however, denied that their rivals of the Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni forces have taken control of Hodeida’s airport.

A statement posted Saturday on the Houthis’ official news agency, SABA, quoted Ahmed Taresh, the head of Hodeida airport, as adding that airstrikes have completely destroyed the airport.

The Houthi-run Al Masirah satellite news channel aired footage it described as being from near Hodeida showing a burned-out truck, corpses of irregular fighters and a damaged Emirati armored vehicle. The Iranian-aligned fighters rifled through a military ledger from the vehicle before chanting their slogan: “Death to America, death to Israel, damn the Jews, victory to Islam!”

Yemeni officials and witnesses said forces from the United Arab Emirates-backed Amaleqa brigades, backed by air cover from the Saudi-led coalition, were heading to eastern Hodeida province to attempt to cut off the main road that links it with the capital, Sanaa.

The officials said that if government forces capture the Kilo 16 Road they will trap the rebels in Hodeida and the western coast and prevent them from receiving supplies from the capital. The rebels are then expected to have no choice but to head to the northern province of Hajjah.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media and the witnesses for fear of reprisals.

The Saudi-led coalition began its assault Wednesday on Hodeida, the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine. Emirati forces are leading ground forces mixed with their own troops, irregular militiamen and soldiers backing Yemen’s exiled government. Saudi Arabia has provided air support, with targeting guidance and refueling coming from the U.S.

United Nations special envoy Martin Griffiths, meanwhile arrived in Sanaa in an effort to broker a cease-fire.

International aid groups and the U.N. cautioned the Saudi-led coalition from launching the assault. Their fear is that a protracted fight could force a shutdown of Hodeida’s port at a time when a halt in aid risks tipping millions into starvation. Some 70 percent of Yemen’s food enters via the port, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of the country’s population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are already at risk of starving.

The World Health Organization expressed concern on Saturday over the fighting around Hodeida, calling for unbroken aid access and protection of health workers.

In a statement Saturday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “we stand with our U.N. partners to call on all parties to the conflict to protect the port, and allow its uninterrupted functioning. We also call on all parties to protect health workers and their facilities from harm, as well as to ensure unimpeded access for medical teams seeking to treat the wounded.”

For its part, the Saudi-led coalition says it had no choice but to launch the assault as the port provided millions of dollars for the Houthis through customs controls. They also accuse the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons through, something a U.N. panels of experts described in January as “unlikely” as incoming ships require U.N. permission and are subject to random searches.

The U.N. and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons, from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

The coalition has blocked most ports, letting supplies into Hodeida in coordination with the U.N. The air campaign and fighting have disrupted other supply lines, causing an economic crisis that makes food too expensive for many to afford.

Aid agencies and the U.N. evacuated international staff from the city ahead of the offensive. Some of the wounded able to flee are driving onto Aden, some 195 miles away, after being stabilized at a hospital in Mocha on the way, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said. The local hospital in Hodeida already is struggling to help the wounded, the group said.

Thousands remain besieged in the city and around the airport due to the fighting.

“Families are trapped inside and it is difficult leaving as they are coming under airstrikes and bombardment by both parties of the war,” relief worker Saber Wasel told The Associated Press. “It was a hard night for citizens because of the intensity of the strikes and gunfire.”

Security officials and witnesses said Saturday that Houthi rebels had also attacked government forces in al-Faza and al-Gah towns on the western coast over the past two days, killing at least 16 troops and wounding at least 13 others, and cut off the road that links between al-Gah and ad-Durayhimi district, some 12 miles south Hodeida’s airport.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media, and the witnesses for fear of reprisals.

The Houthis seized control of Sanaa in September 2014, later pushing south toward the port city of Aden. The Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in March 2015 and has faced criticism for a campaign of airstrikes killing civilians and destroying hospitals and markets.

The Houthis meanwhile have laid land mines killing and wounding civilians, targeted religious minorities and imprisoned opponents.

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.</s>SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Saudi-led forces fought to retake the international airport of Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida from the Shiite Houthi rebels, Yemeni officials and witnesses said on Saturday, as combat intensified for the starving nation's main gateway for food shipments.

With battles raging at the southern side of al-Hodeida International Airport, the military of Yemen's exiled government said it had entirely seized the facility, and that engineers were working to clear mines from nearby areas just south of the city of some 600,000 people on the Red Sea.

"The armed forces which are supported by the Arab coalition have freed the al-Hodeida International Airport from the Houthi militias and the engineering teams have started to clean the airport and its surroundings from mines and bombs," the military said on its official Twitter account.

Other government officials and witnesses later said coalition forces had not yet fully taken control of the airport. They said fighting was heavy just outside the airport gates.

Sadek Dawad, spokesman of the Republican Guards force loyal to the Saudis, said government forces had battled onto the airport grounds.

Dawad also said the southern gate of Hodeida city was captured by pro-coalition forces.

"The military operations to liberate the city of Hodeida will not be stopped until we secure the city and its strategic port and that won't last too long," he told The Associated Press.

Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who hold the country's capital of Sanaa, did not immediately acknowledge losing the airport.

The Houthi-run Al Masirah satellite news channel aired footage it described as being from near Hodeida showing a burned-out truck, corpses of irregular fighters and a damaged Emirati armored vehicle. The Iranian-aligned fighters rifled through a military ledger from the vehicle before chanting their slogan: "Death to America, death to Israel, damn the Jews, victory to Islam!"

Yemeni officials and witnesses said forces from the United Arab Emirates-backed Amaleqa brigades, backed by air cover from the Saudi-led coalition, were heading to eastern Hodeida province to attempt to cut off the main road that links it with the capital, Sanaa.

The officials said if government forces capture the Kilo 16 Road they will trap the rebels in Hodeida and the western coast and prevent them from receiving supplies from the capital. The rebels are then expected to have no choice but to head to the northern province of Hajjah.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media and the witnesses for fear of reprisals.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said humanitarian agencies cannot reach the southern part of Hodeida as fighting escalated. It said in a statement that heavy airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition have moved confrontation lines deeper to the south.

United Nations special envoy Martin Griffiths, meanwhile arrived in Sanaa in an effort to broker a cease-fire.

The Saudi-led coalition began its assault Wednesday on Hodeida, the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine. Emirati forces are leading ground forces mixed with their own troops, irregular militiamen and soldiers backing Yemen's exiled government. Saudi Arabia has provided air support, with targeting guidance and refueling coming from the U.S.

International aid groups and the UN cautioned the Saudi-led coalition from launching the assault. Their fear is that a protracted fight could force a shutdown of Hodeida's port at a time when a halt in aid risks tipping millions into starvation. Some 70 percent of Yemen's food enters via the port, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of the country's population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are already at risk of starving.

For its part, the Saudi-led coalition says it had no choice but to launch the assault as the port provided millions of dollars for the Houthis through customs controls. They also accuse the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons through, something a U.N. panels of experts described in January as "unlikely" as incoming ships require U.N. permission and are subject to random searches.

The U.N. and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons, from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

The coalition has blocked most ports, letting supplies into Hodeida in coordination with the U.N. The air campaign and fighting have disrupted other supply lines, causing an economic crisis that makes food too expensive for many to afford.

Aid agencies and the U.N. evacuated international staff from the city ahead of the offensive. Some of the wounded able to flee are driving onto Aden, some 315 kilometers (195 miles) away, after being stabilized at a hospital in Mocha on the way, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said. The local hospital in Hodeida already is struggling to help the wounded, the group said.

Thousands remain besieged in the city and around the airport due to the fighting.

"Families are trapped inside and it is difficult leaving as they are coming under airstrikes and bombardment by both parties of the war," relief worker Saber Wasel told The Associated Press. "It was a hard night for citizens because of the intensity of the strikes and gunfire."

The Houthis seized control of Sanaa in September 2014, later pushing south toward the port city of Aden. The Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in March 2015 and has faced criticism for a campaign of airstrikes killing civilians and destroying hospitals and markets.

The Houthis meanwhile have laid land mines killing and wounding civilians, targeted religious minorities and imprisoned opponents.

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates >> Fighting resumed Thursday around the Yemen port city of Hodeida as a Saudi-led coalition tries to retake it from Shiite rebels known as Houthis. Witnesses described heavy fighting to the city’s south, near its airport.

The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government launched an assault on the port city of Hodeida on Wednesday. The Red Sea port is the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine.

The biggest offensive of the years-long war in the Arab world’s poorest nation has raised warnings from aid agencies that Yemen’s humanitarian disaster could deepen.

The attack is aimed at driving out Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who have held Hodeida since 2015, and break the civil war’s long stalemate. But it could set off a prolonged street-by-street battle that inflicts heavy casualties.

The fear is that a protracted fight could force a shutdown of Hodeida’s port at a time when a halt in aid risks tipping millions into starvation. Some 70 percent of Yemen’s food enters via the port, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of the country’s population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are already at risk of starving.

Early on Wednesday, convoys of vehicles headed toward the rebel-held city as heavy gunfire rang out. The assault, part of an operation dubbed “Golden Victory,” began with coalition airstrikes and shelling by naval ships, according to Saudi-owned satellite news channels and state media.

Bombardment was heavy, with one aid official reporting 30 strikes in 30 minutes.

The initial battle plan appeared to involve a pincer movement. Some 2,000 troops who crossed the Red Sea from an Emirati naval base in the African nation of Eritrea were awaiting orders to move in from the west after Yemeni government forces seize Hodeida’s port, Yemeni security officials said.

Emirati forces with Yemeni government troops moved in from the south near Hodeida’s airport, while others sought to cut off Houthi supply lines to the east, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to brief journalists.

Yemen’s exiled government “has exhausted all peaceful and political means to remove the Houthi militia from the port of Hodeida,” it said in a statement. “Liberation of the port of Hodeida is a milestone in our struggle to regain Yemen from the militias.”

Four Emirati soldiers were killed in Wednesday’s assault, the United Arab Emirates’ state-run news agency said, but gave no details of how they died.

The Houthi-run Al Masirah satellite news channel claimed rebel forces hit a Saudi coalition ship near Hodeida with two missiles. The Saudi-led coalition did not immediately acknowledge the incident.

Forces loyal to Yemen’s exiled government and fighters led by Emirati troops had neared Hodeida in recent days. The port is some 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, which has been in Houthi hands since September 2014. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015.

The United Nations and other aid groups already had pulled their international staff from Hodeida ahead of the assault. The U.N. Security Council was scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the offensive.

The port has remained open, however. Several ships arrived in recent days, including oil tankers, and there was no word from the coalition or the U.N. to stop work, according to a senior port official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war, which has displaced 2 million others and helped spawn a cholera epidemic. Saudi-led airstrikes have killed large numbers of civilians and damaged vital infrastructure.

The U.N. and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons, from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

The coalition has blocked most ports, letting supplies into Hodeida in coordination with the U.N. The air campaign and fighting have disrupted other supply lines, causing an economic crisis that makes food too expensive for many to afford.

Late Wednesday, the Saudi and Emirati governments announced what they called a “multi-faceted plan” to protect civilians in Hodeida, including establishing routes for food, medical supplies and oil shipments from Saudi Arabia’s southern city of Jizan and the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi.</s>Saudi-led forces heading an assault on Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida have seized control of its international airport, officials loyal to Yemen's exiled government said.

Engineers worked from Saturday morning to clear mines from areas around Hodeida International Airport, just south of the city of some 600,000 people on the Red Sea, the military of Yemen's exiled government said.

Yemen's Shi'Ite rebels known as Houthis, who hold the country's capital of Sanaa, did not immediately acknowledge losing the airport.

However, the Houthi-run Al Masirah satellite news channel aired footage it described as being from near Hodeida showing a burned-out truck, corpses of irregular fighters and a damaged Emirati armoured vehicle. The Iranian-aligned fighters rifled through a military ledger from the vehicle before chanting their slogan: "Death to America, death to Israel, damn the Jews, victory to Islam!"

The Saudi-led coalition began its assault on Hodeida on Wednesday, the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine. Emirati forces are leading ground forces mixed with their own troops, irregular militiamen and soldiers backing Yemen's exiled government. Saudi Arabia has provided air support.

International aid groups and the United Nations cautioned the Saudi-led coalition from launching the assault. Their fear is that a protracted fight could force a shutdown of Hodeida's port at a time when a halt in aid risks tipping millions into starvation. Some 70 per cent of Yemen's food enters via the port, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of the country's population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are already at risk of starving.

For its part, the Saudi-led coalition says it had no choice but to launch the assault as the port provided millions of dollars for the Houthis through customs controls. They also accuse the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons through, something a UN panels of experts described in January as "unlikely."

The UN and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons, from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

The coalition has blocked most ports, letting supplies into Hodeida in coordination with the UN The air campaign and fighting have disrupted other supply lines, causing an economic crisis that makes food too expensive for many to afford.</s>The Houthi-run Al Masirah satellite news channel aired footage it described as being from near Hodeida showing a burned-out truck, corpses of irregular fighters and a damaged Emirati armored vehicle. The Iranian-aligned fighters rifled through a military ledger from the vehicle before chanting their slogan: “Death to America, death to Israel, damn the Jews, victory to Islam!”

Yemeni officials and witnesses said forces from the United Arab Emirates-backed Amaleqa brigades, supported by air cover from the Saudi-led coalition, were heading to eastern Hodeida province to attempt to cut off the main road that links it with the capital, Sanaa.

Saudi-backed Yemeni forces travel in convoy toward the western port city of Hodeidah, Yemen, 15 June 2018.NAJEEB ALMAHBOOBI / EPA

The officials said if government forces capture the road they will trap the rebels in Hodeida and the western coast and prevent them from receiving supplies from the capital. The rebels are then expected to have no choice but to head to the northern province of Hajjah.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media and the witnesses for fear of reprisals.

United Nations special envoy Martin Griffiths, meanwhile, arrived in Sanaa in an effort to broker a cease-fire.

The Saudi-led coalition began its assault Wednesday on Hodeida, the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine. Emirati forces are leading ground forces mixed with their own troops, irregular militiamen and soldiers backing Yemen’s exiled government. Saudi Arabia has provided air support, with targeting guidance and refueling coming from the U.S.

International aid groups and the UN cautioned the Saudi-led coalition from launching the assault. Their fear is that a protracted fight could force a shutdown of Hodeida’s port at a time when a halt in aid risks tipping millions into starvation.

Some 70 percent of Yemen’s food enters via the port, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of the country’s population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are already at risk of starving.

For its part, the Saudi-led coalition says it had no choice but to launch the assault as the port provided millions of dollars for the Houthis through customs controls.

They also accuse the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons through, something a U.N. panels of experts described in January as “unlikely” as incoming ships require U.N. permission and are subject to random searches.

The U.N. and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons, from assault rifles to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

The coalition has blocked most ports, letting supplies into Hodeida in coordination with the U.N. The air campaign and fighting have disrupted other supply lines, causing an economic crisis that makes food too expensive for many to afford.

Aid agencies and the U.N. evacuated international staff from the city ahead of the offensive. Some of the wounded able to flee are driving onto Aden, some 195 miles away, after being stabilized at a hospital in Mocha on the way, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said. The local hospital in Hodeida is already struggling to help the wounded, the group said.

Thousands remain besieged in the city and around the airport due to the fighting.

“Families are trapped inside and it is difficult leaving as they are coming under airstrikes and bombardment by both parties of the war,” relief worker Saber Wasel told The Associated Press. “It was a hard night for citizens because of the intensity of the strikes and gunfire.”

The Houthis seized control of Sanaa in September 2014, later pushing south toward the port city of Aden. The Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in March 2015 and has faced criticism for a campaign of airstrikes killing civilians and destroying hospitals and markets.

The Houthis meanwhile have laid land mines killing and wounding civilians, targeted religious minorities and imprisoned opponents.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Latest on the battle for Hodeida in Yemen (all times local):

Saudi Arabia's U.N. ambassador says there are two ships, each carrying 5,000 tons of food, ready to dock immediately at the port of Hodeida in Yemen, which is the target of the Saudi-led coalition's offensive to oust Houthi rebels.

Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said the ships — from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — are part of coalition efforts "toward ensuring abundant humanitarian supplies" to Hodeida during the offensive.

"Our desire in Hodeida is not to infuriate the Houthis or to kill as many of them as we possibly can," he told a group of U.N. reporters in New York on Thursday. "To the contrary, we have allowed them safe passage to the north of the city if they want to drop their arms and leave."

Al-Mouallimi also challenged reports calling Hodeida "a lifeline to Yemen for humanitarian aid."

He said "that is a matter of choice, not a matter of necessity," stressing that there are nine ports in Yemen and two others in Saudi Arabia that can reach the Yemeni people.

"It's decision of those who import aid," Al-Mouallimi said.

He said the coalition wants Hodeida to remain open, and plans to ship aid there because the infrastructure is there.

The United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the United Nations says the military offensive by the UAE and Saudi-led coalition against Hodeida "is a deliberate, carefully prepared and executed operation."

Lana Nusseibeh told a group of U.N. reporters in New York on Thursday that coalition forces, under the direction of the Yemeni government, will move in "a calibrated, gradual" way.

She wouldn't speculate on the duration of the military operations saying: "We are facing a small, fanatical group of hardened fighters armed by Iran.

Nusseibeh called the offensive to oust the Houthi Shiite rebels "a critical step toward achieving a political solution to this conflict because we know there is no military solution."

She said the coalition believes it actions "can create the right dynamics" to help U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths with his peace plan to end the three-year Yemen conflict.

"At every step along the way the Houthis will be given opportunities to retreat, to disarm and to come back to the negotiating process," Nusseibeh said.

Yemen's foreign minister says military operations by the Saudi-led coalition are not taking place near Yemen's critical port of Hodeida but in an area close to the airport.

But Khaled Alyemany told a group of U.N. reporters in New York on Thursday that the government thinks Houthi Shiite rebels who control Hodeida "might blow up the installations of the seaport."

He said U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths is working to prevent any damage to the infrastructure at the port.

Alyemany stressed that there is no military solution to the three-year conflict and the goal is to restart negotiations. "We think every time we push hard the Houthis accept to engage, and they will engage more," he said.

He said Yemeni forces and the coalition have liberates areas in the south and the north "and we are almost now in the areas close to our capital," Sanaa.

"And we think when the time is appropriate we (will) also push hard the Houthis to leave our capital and restore the stability in Yemen," Alyemany said.

The U.N. Security Council is again calling for the key Yemeni ports of Hodeida and Saleef to be kept open and reiterating support for a political solution as the only way to end Yemen's three-year conflict.

In a press statement Thursday after an emergency closed-door meeting, the council expressed "deep concerns about the risks to the humanitarian situation" following the launch of an offensive against Hodeida by the Saudi-led coalition.

The council "urged all sides to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law."

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce, who called the meeting, told reporters before it started that U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths has been trying to negotiate the withdrawal of the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who control Hodeida.

Griffiths is expected to brief the council Monday, including on his proposals to restart negotiations to restore peace to Yemen.

Sweden had urged the council to call for an immediate freeze to military action on Hodeida, but the council statement made no such call, reflecting divisions among its 15 members.

Yemen's president has returned to his country after apparently patching up relations with the United Arab Emirates, which along with Saudi Arabia is leading an assault on Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida.

The state-run SABA news agency reported President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's arrival in the southern city of Aden on Thursday.

Both Hadi's government and the UAE are part of the Saudi-led coalition that has been at war with Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, since March 2015. But Hadi's forces and fighters backed by the UAE have clashed on a number of occasions, and relations have been tense in recent months.

Yemeni officials told The Associated Press in November that Saudi Arabia had barred Hadi from returning home.

Sweden is urging the U.N. Security Council to call for "an immediate freeze" in the attack on Yemen's port of Hodeida by Saudi-led coalition forces.

Swedish Deputy Ambassador Carl Skau said ahead of an emergency council meeting on Thursday that a halt to military operations is needed to give U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths and U.N.-led efforts "a chance to avert disaster and find a sustainable political solution to the conflict."

Skau, whose country is serving a two-year term on the council, said: "Time is running out."

"We are at a crossroads in the conflict in Yemen," he said. "A full-scale assault on the port of Hodeida will tip the already dire humanitarian situation over the edge."

The coalition launched an offensive Wednesday to capture the strategic harbor held by Shiite Houthi rebels. Over 70 percent of Yemen's imports go through Hodeida.

Yemen's Shiite rebels say they have foiled a naval attack by government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition off the Red Sea port of Hodeida.

Col. Aziz Rashed, the spokesman for an army unit allied with the Houthi rebels, told a news conference Thursday in the capital, Sanaa, that the rebels have countered "hostile naval warships" off the coasty of al-Olifika, to the south.

He claimed that rebel forces hit a UAE warship near Hodeida with two missiles.

He says it will be "impossible" for the coalition to capture Hodeida.

The Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive Wednesday aimed at driving Iran-allied Houthi rebels from the port, which is the main entry point for food and aid to the war-torn country.

Iran has condemned the Saudi-led coalition's assault on the Yemeni port city of Hodeida, which is controlled by rebels aligned with Tehran.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Thursday that "such crimes will shatter the hopes for political endeavors and will add to the complexity of the situation."

Ghasemi also expressed concern about the worsening humanitarian situation in the impoverished country, which has been driven to the brink of famine by more than three years of war.

The Saudi-led coalition, which is allied with Yemen's internationally recognized government, launched an offensive Wednesday aimed at driving Iran-allied Houthi rebels from the port, which is the main entry point for food and aid to the war-torn country.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of sending weapons to the rebels, including the ballistic missiles they have fired into the kingdom. Iran denies arming the rebels.

The Norwegian Refugee Council says the Yemeni port at Hodeida remains open amid a Saudi-led campaign to retake the city.

A statement Thursday from the relief agency said as of Wednesday, there were "four vessels filled with food and fuel at berth" and another five vessels at anchorage.

The council added: "People in the governorate have reported heavy airstrikes along coastal areas and roads in districts south of Hodeida city. No direct attacks have been reported within Hodeida city itself, despite the overhead presence of fighter jets."

The Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive Wednesday aimed at driving Iran-allied Houthi rebels from the port, which is the main entry point for food and aid to the war-torn country.

The United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva says the four Emirati troops who were killed in Yemen were taking part in the campaign to retake the port city of Hodeida.

Ambassador Obaid Salem al-Zaabi made the comments during a news conference with journalists Thursday.

Al-Zaabi declined to offer further specifics about the soldiers' deaths.

Asked whether he worried the Shiite rebels known as Houthis would damage the crucial Yemen port, the ambassador said: "They will damage it, but we have plans for that."

He added that the UAE and the Saudi-led coalition went ahead with the campaign despite knowing that international aid agencies fear it could lead to a humanitarian crisis. The Red Sea port of Hodeida is the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine.

The Yemeni government-controlled SABA news agency has reported that government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have taken control of a town south of the port city of Hodeida.

SABA reported late Wednesday the forces captured the town of Nakhilia in the district of ad-Durayhimi about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) south of Hodeida International Airport.

The news agency says fierce battles have raged between government forces and Shiite rebel Houthis in areas on the outskirts of Hodeida.

The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's exiled government began an assault on the key port city of Hodeida on Wednesday.

Hodeida is the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine. That has raised warnings from aid agencies that Yemen's humanitarian disaster could deepen.

Fighting around the Yemen port city of Hodeida has resumed as a Saudi-led coalition tries to retake it from Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

Witnesses described heavy fighting to the city's south on Thursday morning, near its airport.

The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's exiled government began the assault on the port city of Hodeida (hoh-DY'-duh) on Wednesday.

Hodeida is the main entry for food into a country already on the brink of famine. That has raised warnings from aid agencies that Yemen's humanitarian disaster could deepen.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Sana’a, June 16 (IANS) Yemeni forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday that they have liberated the airport of the main port city of Hudaydah from Houthi rebels.

The military units have begun to clear the airfield of mines and explosive devices planted by the rebels, the BBC reported citing the Army as saying.

Following the development, Houthi spokesperson Mohamed Abdel Salam said on Twitter that the withdrawal of his fighters was part of a tactical strategy and as a consequence, the mercenaries entered the airport.

He added that his fighters captured 36 soldiers loyal to the internationally-backed Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is now in the coastal city of Aden, the government’s provisional capital.

The development took place on the fourth day of an offensive to seize the strategic city, located on the Red Sea coast with its port as one of the main entry points for essential supplies to the country, which is suffering the most pressing humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the UN.

Military and medical sources told Efe news that more than 300 personnel belonging to both the Houthis and Yemeni forces were killed in the last two days of the offensive, while more than 550 were injured.

Residents of the area said that they have heard explosions and shots since Saturday morning in the airfield to the south of the city, 10 km from the port of Hudaydah, the second largest in the country after the port of Aden.

They added that the government forces continued to forge ahead after the airport was captured in order to take control of the southern entrance of the city, where violent clashes were ongoing.

According to the residents, both sides made a safe corridor for 4,000 al-Manzar neighbourhood inhabitants after a woman and a man were killed and another 30 injured in clashes.

Since late 2014, Yemen remains immersed in a bloody civil war after Houthi rebels seized both its capital Sana’a and its northern and western regions.

The conflict intensified in March 2015 when the Saudi Arabia-led alliance intervened in Yemen.
Saudi Arabian-led coalition troops seize control of Hodeida International Airport in Al Hudaydah after driving out Houthi forces. Around 280 people have been reportedly killed in the last four days inside the Yemeni port city.