Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Former child soldiers, a landmine survivor and an internally displaced child tell their stories

Pro-government forces in Yemen, backed by Saudi Arabia, have begun attacking a key port held by rebel fighters.

The coastal city of Hudaydah is where most of the aid arrives for people in Yemen's rebel-held areas. Agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.

About eight million people are at risk of starvation in the war-torn country.

Pro-government strikes began after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels ignored a deadline to withdraw by midnight (21:00 GMT on Tuesday).

It is the first time the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Gulf states has tried to capture such a well-defended major city in Yemen.

The UN Security Council is expected to meet to discuss the situation on Thursday, following a request from the UK.

The conflict in Yemen has raged since late 2014, when the Houthis and allied forces seized north-western parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa, and eventually forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.

Alarmed by the rise of a group they saw as an Iranian proxy, Saudi Arabia and eight other Sunni Arab states launched a military campaign in March 2015 to restore Mr Hadi's government.

Why does Hudaydah matter?

The Saudi-led coalition has accused the rebels of using Hudaydah to smuggle in Iranian weapons. Both Iran and the rebels deny this.

The coalition says victory could break the stalemate in the war and force the Houthis to the negotiating table.

But the port is a lifeline for the majority of Yemen's population and the UN had been trying to get parties to the conflict to reach a deal that would avert an attack.

An estimated 600,000 people live in the area. Robert Mardini, regional head for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said the attack was "likely to exacerbate an already catastrophic humanitarian situation".

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A cholera outbreak has killed thousands of people in Yemen, including many in Hudaydah

On Friday, UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Yemen Lise Grande warned: "In a prolonged worst case, we fear that as many as 250,000 people may lose everything - even their lives."

Read more on why the battle for Hudaydah matters.

How have operations unfolded?

On Tuesday, the exiled government said its forces and allied Saudi-led troops launched their assault after "exhausting all peaceful and political means".

Coalition warplanes and warships later began bombarding Houthi positions. An alliance of Yemeni forces supporting the internationally recognised government is leading the ground assault.

The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya network reported "intense and concentrated" strikes near the port.

"The liberation of Hudaydah port is a turning point in our struggle to recapture Yemen from the militias that hijacked it to serve foreign agendas," the exiled government said.

The rebels have said they will "confront the coalition of aggression on all fronts".

Battle that threatens to push people off the brink

By BBC correspondent Nawal Al-Maghafi

For the last three years the Saudi-led coalition hasn't made any major advances. But in the last few weeks, the rebel side has lost a lot of fighters and commanders. The coalition sees a window of opportunity and is desperate to gain ground.

It has argued repeatedly that a Hudaydah offensive can be mounted quickly and effectively, leaving the port functioning at a higher capacity. But if the battle is prolonged, it will leave millions of Yemenis without food, fuel and other vital supplies.

In reality, families in Hudaydah are already starving and desperately relying on humanitarian aid. Reporting from the city last year, I saw children who were severely undeveloped, their ribs protruding.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How children are starving in Yemen's war

They were living off a peanut-based paste provided by aid agencies. The hospitals were desperately trying to do what they could but were overwhelmed by cases of malnutrition and cholera.

Now this battle threatens to push these people off the brink. Meanwhile, the possibility of the warring sides returning to the negotiating table seems even more remote.

How serious is the humanitarian crisis?

About 10,000 people - two-thirds of them civilians - have been killed in the fighting since March 2015, according to the UN.

The vast majority of the casualties have been the result of coalition air strikes. The UN's figures do not include those who have died of disease and malnutrition.

The conflict and a partial blockade by the coalition have also left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid. It has created the world's largest food emergency and led to a cholera outbreak that is thought to have killed 2,290 people.

In a tweet, the UN's envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, called on both sides to end the fighting and find a negotiated settlement.</s>Baku. 26 March. REPORT.AZ/ "The military operation of Saudi Arabia in Yemen will contribute to the prevention of civil war and chaos in Yemen." Report informs, this was announced in a statement of Turkish Foreign Ministry posted on their official website.

The statement says that Saudi Arabia has informed Turkey about the operation in advance on behalf of the coalition of regional countries: "The operation is implemented at the request of the legitimately elected President of Yemen Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. We support this military operation and believe that it will contribute to the prevention of civil war and chaos in Yemen and restoration of the legitimate leadership of the country " .</s>Saudi-backed forces have begun an assault on the key port of Hudaydah after Houthi rebels ignored a final deadline to withdraw, reports say.

Rebel positions are being bombarded from the air and sea, according to regional media.

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Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if the city is attacked, with up to a quarter of a million casualties possible.

The port is the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Yemen.

More than seven million people in the war-torn country are dependent on food aid.

The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network reported that the "liberation" of Hudaydah had begun with a large-scale ground assault supported by air and naval cover.

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Explosions were heard on the outskirts of the port city, it added.

The Yemeni government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi said in a statement that all political means to persuade the rebels to withdraw had been exhausted.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), part of the Saudi-led coalition that backs Mr Hadi, had earlier given the Houthis a final ultimatum to withdraw or face imminent attack.

UAE Junior Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash told the BBC that the coalition had run out of patience with diplomatic efforts after a previous 48-hour deadline expired.

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He said the coalition wanted the UN to take control of the port but it was prepared to take military action if the Houthis refused to withdraw.

The civil war in Yemen has killed about 10,000 people over the past three years and created what the UN says is the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

A Saudi-led multinational coalition intervened in the conflict in Yemen in March 2015 as forces loyal to President Hadi battled the Houthi movement, which champions Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority</s>The Saudi-led coalition forces on Wednesday launched a major military operation to recapture Yemeni port of Al-Hudaydah from Shia Houthi rebels.

“The operation to recapture Al-Hudaydah city and port has begun,” Yemeni military spokesman Abdullah al-Shuabi said.

Sounds of explosions and bombing were heard in the southern outskirts of the port city by Saudi-led coalition warplanes and warships.

Al-Shuabi said government forces have captured major military sites at the city’s southern entrance.

He said scores of Houthi rebels had surrendered themselves during the first hours of the offensive.

There was no comment from the Shia Houthi group on the claim.

In a statement, the Yemeni government said it had consumed all peaceful and political means to dislodge Houthi rebels from the strategic port.

“The liberation of Al-Hudaydah port is a turning point in our struggle to recapture Yemen from the militias that hijacked it to serve foreign agendas,” it said in the statement cited by the official Saba news agency.

“The liberation of the port is the start of the fall of the Houthi militia and will secure marine shipping in Bab al-Mandab strait and cut off the hands of Iran, which has long drowned Yemen in weapons that shed precious Yemeni blood,” it added.

Al-Hudaydah port is a vital supply line through which as much as 80 percent of humanitarian aid to war-ravaged Yemen goes through.

Impoverished Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when the Shia Houthi group overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The ongoing violence has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as one of “the worst humanitarian disasters in modern times”.</s>A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's exiled government began an assault Wednesday morning on Yemen's port city of Hodeida, a crucial battle in the 3-year-old conflict that aid agencies warned could push the Arab world's poorest country into further chaos.

Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies for years have held the Red Sea port, crucial to food supplies in a nation on the brink of famine after years of war. The battle for Hodeida, if the Houthis don't withdraw, also may mark the first major street-to-street urban fighting for the Saudi-led coalition, which can be deadly for both combatants and civilians alike.

Before dawn Wednesday, convoys of vehicles appeared to be heading toward the rebel-held city, according to videos posted on social media. The sound of heavy, sustained gunfire clearly could be heard in the background.

Saudi-owned satellite news channels and later state media announced the battle had begun, citing military sources.

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."

The Houthi-run Al Masirah satellite news channel later acknowledged the offensive, claiming rebel forces hit a Saudi coalition ship near Hodeida with two land-to-sea missiles. Houthi forces have fired such missiles at ships previously.

"The targeted ship was carrying troops prepared for a landing on the coast of Hodeida," the channel said. The Saudi-led coalition did not immediately acknowledge the incident.

Forces loyal to Yemen's exiled government and irregular 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 held by the Houthis since they swept into the city in September 2014. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015 and has received logistical support from the U.S.

Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash earlier told French newspaper Le Figaro the deadline for a withdrawal from Hodeida by the Houthis expired early Wednesday morning.

The United Nations and other aid groups already had pulled their international staff from Hodeida ahead of the rumored assault.

Over 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen's civil war, which has displaced 2 million more and helped spawn a cholera epidemic. The Saudi-led coalition has been criticized for its airstrikes killing civilians. Meanwhile, the U.N. and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons from assault rifles up to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

Before the war, over 70 percent of Yemen's food and fuel imports came through Hodeida, accounting for over 40 percent of the nation's customs income. The port remains crucial for incoming aid, food and medicine for a nation driven to the brink of famine by the conflict and a Saudi-led blockade. A Saudi-led airstrike in 2015 destroyed cranes at Hodeida. The United Nations in January shipped in mobile cranes to help unload ships there.

The U.N. says some 600,000 people live in and around Hodeida, and "as many as 250,000 people may lose everything — even their lives" in the assault.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said that U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths was in "intense negotiations" in an attempt to avoid a military confrontation. However, Griffiths' recent appointment as envoy and his push for new negotiations may have encouraged the Saudi-led coalition to strengthen its hand ahead of any peace talks with the Houthis.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government began an assault Wednesday morning on Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, a crucial battle in the 3-year-old conflict that aid agencies warned could push the Arab world’s poorest country into further chaos.

Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies for years have held the Red Sea port, crucial to food supplies in a nation on the brink of famine after years of war. The battle for Hodeida, if the Houthis don’t withdraw, also may mark the first major street-to-street urban fighting for the Saudi-led coalition, which can be deadly for both combatants and civilians alike.

Before dawn Wednesday, convoys of vehicles appeared to be heading toward the rebel-held city, according to videos posted on social media. The sound of heavy, sustained gunfire clearly could be heard in the background.

Saudi-owned satellite news channels and later state media announced the battle had begun, citing military sources. They also reported coalition airstrikes and shelling by naval ships.

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 landed west of the city with plans to seize Hodeida’s port, Yemeni security officials said.

Emirati forces with Yemeni 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.”

The Houthi-run Al Masirah satellite news channel later acknowledged the offensive, claiming rebel forces hit a Saudi coalition ship near Hodeida with two missiles. Houthi forces have fired missiles at ships previously.

“The targeted ship was carrying troops prepared for a landing on the coast of Hodeida,” the channel said.

The Saudi-led coalition did not immediately acknowledge the incident. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, whose area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, referred questions to the Pentagon, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Forces loyal to Yemen’s exiled government and irregular 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 held by the Houthis since they swept into the city in September 2014. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015 and has received logistical support from the U.S.

Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash earlier told French newspaper Le Figaro the deadline for a withdrawal from Hodeida by the Houthis expired early Wednesday morning.

The United Nations and other aid groups already had pulled their international staff from Hodeida ahead of the rumored assault.

Over 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war, which has displaced 2 million more and helped spawn a cholera epidemic. The Saudi-led coalition has been criticized for its airstrikes killing civilians. Meanwhile, the U.N. and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons from assault rifles up to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh.

Before the war, over 70% of Yemen’s food and fuel imports came through Hodeida, accounting for over 40% of the nation’s customs income. The port remains crucial for incoming aid, food and medicine for a nation driven to the brink of famine by the conflict and a Saudi-led blockade. A Saudi-led airstrike in 2015 destroyed cranes at Hodeida. The United Nations in January shipped in mobile cranes to help unload ships there.

The U.N. says some 600,000 people live in and around Hodeida, and “as many as 250,000 people may lose everything — even their lives” in the assault.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said that U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths was in “intense negotiations” in an attempt to avoid a military confrontation. However, Griffiths’ recent appointment as envoy and his push for new negotiations may have encouraged the Saudi-led coalition to strengthen its hand ahead of any peace talks with the Houthis.

The attack also comes as Washington has been focused on President Donald Trump’s recent summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A statement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday he spoke with Emirati officials and “made clear our desire to address their security concerns while preserving the free flow of humanitarian aid and life-saving commercial imports.”

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday acknowledged the U.S. continues to provide support to the Saudi-led coalition.

“It’s providing any intel, or anything we can give to show no-fire areas where there are civilians, where there’s mosques, hospitals, that sort of thing — (and) aerial refueling, so nobody feels like I’ve got to drop the bomb and get back now,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what specific American support the coalition was receiving Wednesday.

Associated Press writers Ahmed al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen, and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.</s>DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthis blocked a sea landing by Saudi and Emirati forces near Hodeidah port on Wednesday, holding off a Saudi-led coalition attack on the country's main port city, a Houthi official told Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV.

"The Saudi coalition has not advanced at all in Hodeidah," Dayfallah al-Shami, a member of the movement's political bureau, told the pro-Iranian al-Mayadeen. "We foiled a sea landing of Saudi and Emirati forces near the port of Hodeidah."

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.</s>ADEN (Reuters) - A Saudi-led coalition geared up on Tuesday for an assault on Yemen’s main port, preparing to launch by far the biggest battle of a three-year-old war between an alliance of Arab states and the Houthi movement that controls Yemen’s capital.

The United Arab Emirates, one of the main members of the Western-backed alliance, has set a Tuesday deadline for the Iran-aligned Houthis to withdraw from the port of Hodeidah under U.N.-led negotiations or face an assault.

It would be the first time since they joined the war on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government that the foreign armies have attempted to capture such a well-defended major city.

Hodeidah, Yemen’s biggest port and the only port controlled by the Houthis, serves as the lifeline for the majority of Yemen’s population, which lives in Houthi-ruled territory.

The United Nations said it was engaged in “intense” shuttle diplomacy between the Houthis and coalition leaders Saudi Arabia and the UAE to avert the attack.

It estimates 600,000 people live in the area, and in a worst-case scenario a battle could cost up to 250,000 lives, as well as cutting off millions from aid and supplies.

Emirati-led troops have advanced along the southwestern coast to the outskirts of Hodeidah under a coalition strategy to box in the Houthis in the capital Sanaa and choke off their supply lines to force them to the negotiating table.

Local military sources said hundreds of Yemeni fighters as well as tanks and military supplies from the UAE arrived on Monday to reinforce troops, including Emiratis and Sudanese, in al-Durayhmi, a rural area 10 km (6.21 miles) south of Hodeidah.

The sources said Yemeni forces allied to the Saudi-led coalition — drawn from southern separatists, local units from the Red Sea coastal plain and a battalion led by a nephew of late former president Ali Abdullah Saleh — had advanced and were “at the doors” of Hodeidah airport.

The war pits the Houthis against the Western-backed Sunni Muslim states, which intervened in 2015 to restore the exiled government and thwart what Riyadh and Abu Dhabi see as expansionist aims of their Shi’ite Muslim foe Iran.

The Houthis, with roots in a Zaidi Shi’ite minority that ruled a thousand-year kingdom in Yemen until 1962, deny they are pawns of Iran. They say they have led a popular revolution against corruption and are defending the country from invaders.

“I think the Emiratis have done a good job in presenting compelling arguments about why an operation (on Hodeidah) could in the end tip the balance and apply enough pressure to bring the Houthis to the table,” a Western diplomat said on Monday.

“The Emiratis’ preparedness is crucial in this. This is possibly what we’re most concerned about.”

European donor governments warned aid groups in Yemen on Saturday that “a military assault now looks imminent,” according to a message seen by Reuters. It said: “The Emiratis have informed us today that they will now give a 3-day grace period for the UN (and their partners) to leave the city.”

The UAE foreign ministry and government communication office did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The United Nations relocated foreign staff members from Hodeidah on Monday. The International Committee of the Red Cross said last week it had pulled 71 foreign staff out of Yemen.

The renewed push on Hodeidah comes amid increased tensions between Saudi Arabia and arch-foe Iran after the United States withdrew last month from an international nuclear agreement with Tehran, a move hailed by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia’s Western allies, under increasing scrutiny for selling arms to the states fighting in Yemen, have not publicly made clear whether they approve of an assault on Hodeidah.

Riyadh says the Houthis use the port to smuggle Iranian-made weapons, including missiles that have been launched at Saudi cities — accusations denied by the group and Tehran.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi has warned the group will attack oil tankers in the event of an assault on Hodeidah.

The coalition says one of the main justifications for its intervention is to protect Red Sea shipping, which brings Middle East oil and Asian goods to Europe through the Suez Canal.</s>The UN on Wednesday warned against military confrontation in Yemen’s Al-Hudaydah.

"I am extremely concerned about the military developments in Hudaydah. Further military escalation will have serious consequences […] and will have an impact on my efforts to resume political negotiations to reach an inclusive political settlement to the conflict in Yemen," said Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for Yemen on the situation in Hudaydah.

Calling the sides to exercise restraint, Griffiths said: "I call on the parties to engage constructively with our efforts to spare Hudaydah any military confrontation."

"We continue to use every opportunity to avoid military confrontation in Hudaydah," he added.

The Saudi-led coalition forces on Wednesday launched a major military operation to recapture Yemeni port of Al-Hudaydah from Shia Houthi rebels.

Al-Hudaydah port is a vital supply line of humanitarian aid to Yemen.

Impoverished Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when the Shia Houthi group overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies -- who accuse the Houthis of serving as Iranian proxies -- launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The ongoing violence has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as one of “the worst humanitarian disasters in modern times”.</s>ADEN: A Saudi-led coalition geared up on Tuesday for a military assault on Yemen's main port, preparing to launch by far the biggest battle of a three-year war between an alliance of Arab states and the Houthi movement that controls Yemen's capital.

The United Arab Emirates, a member of the Western-backed alliance, set a Tuesday deadline for the Iran-aligned Houthis to withdraw from the port of Hodeidah under U.N.-led talks.

"These are the last and final hours to get unconditional guarantees that the Houthis will leave the port," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash told Reuters, but declined to discuss military operations.

"If the current situation continues we will have a stalemate politically," he said. "The last thing we want is to prolong the war in Yemen."

It would be the first time since the foreign armies joined the war in 2015 on behalf of Yemen's exiled government that they have attempted to capture such a well-defended major city.

Hodeidah, Yemen's biggest Red Sea port and the only one under Houthi control, serves as the lifeline for the majority of Yemen's population, which lives in Houthi territory.

The United Nations said it was engaged in "intense" shuttle diplomacy between the Houthis, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to avert the attack, which it fears could exacerbate the world's most urgent humanitarian crisis.

It estimates that 600,000 people live in the area, and in a worst-case scenario a battle could cost up to 250,000 lives, as well as cutting off millions of people facing starvation and disease from aid and supplies.

A group of U.S. senators urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, in a letter on Tuesday, to strongly support efforts to negotiate a resolution to the conflict and encourage all sides to avoid steps that would further impede Yemenis' access to food, fuel and medicine.

The UAE's Gargash said plans were in place to keep the port operational and urged the international community to pressure the Houthis to evacuate and leave the port intact, without planting mines.

Emirati-led troops have advanced along the southwestern coast to the outskirts of Hodeidah under a strategy to box in the Houthis in the capital Sanaa and cut off their supply lines to force them to the negotiating table.

UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimy said if the port was no longer under Houthi control then the coalition could ease controls aimed at denying arms to the group by doing away with inspections at the Saudi port of Jizan.

"If there is a viable transition to a legitimate presence in Hodeidah this will alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and facilitate the flow of goods and aid into Yemen," Hashimy said in a briefing.

"The current UN inspection mechanism in Djibouti or inspections in the newly liberated ports of Hudeidah would be sufficient to clear all shipments."

Local military sources said hundreds of Yemeni fighters as well as tanks and gear from the UAE arrived on Monday to reinforce troops, including Emiratis and Sudanese, in al-Durayhmi, a rural area 10 km (6.21 miles) south of Hodeidah.

The sources said UAE-backed Yemeni forces - drawn from southern separatists, local units from the Red Sea coastal plain and a battalion led by a nephew of late former president Ali Abdullah Saleh - were "at the doors" of Hodeidah airport.

The Houthi official responsible for foreign affairs, Hisham Sharaf, said the advance was a military escalation aimed at hampering U.N. efforts, Houthi-run media said.

The Sunni Muslim Gulf states intervened in Yemen to restore the exiled government and thwart what Riyadh and Abu Dhabi see as expansionist objectives of their Shi'ite foe Iran.

The Houthis deny they are Iranian pawns and say their revolt is against corruption and defending Yemen from invaders.

"I think the Emiratis have done a good job in presenting compelling arguments about why an operation (on Hodeidah) could in the end tip the balance and apply enough pressure to bring the Houthis to the table," a Western diplomat said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia's Western allies, which sell arms to coalition states, have not said publicly if they approve of the assault.

Riyadh says the Houthis use the port to smuggle Iranian-made weapons, including missiles that have targeted Saudi cities - accusations denied by the group and Tehran.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi has warned the group will attack oil tankers in the event of an assault on Hodeidah.

The coalition says it aims to protect Red Sea shipping.
Saudi-led coalition forces begin an operation to take control of the Yemeni port city of Al Hudaydah, which has been held by the Houthis since 2015.