Yemen attack: UN to hold urgent talks as battle rages around crucial port

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/14/yemen-attack-un-to-hold-urgent-talks-as-battle-rages-around-crucial-port

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The UN Security Council will meet for urgent talks on Thursday about an assault on the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, launched by the Saudi-led coalition.

Pro-government troops began the offensive to retake the rebel-held port city, which is a key aid hub, on Wednesday, despite mounting international fears about the humanitarian fallout.

The UN Security Council meeting was called after a request from Britain. The closed-door meeting will be the second this week on the Yemen crisis.

The Red Sea port, controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who hail from northern Yemen, serves as the entry point for 70% of the impoverished country’s imports as it teeters on the brink of famine.

The official United Arab Emirates news agency WAM confirmed that the operation was ongoing “with the participation and the support, through land and sea and air, of the Emirati armed forces”.

It added that the attacking forces managed to “liberate areas... in the surroundings of the airport” and captured and killed “dozens of Houthi” rebels.

By Wednesday night, the offensive remained on the outskirts of the rebel-held airport.

The request for the Security Council meeting came after the UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said he was still holding negotiations on keeping the key port open to aid deliveries.

“We are in constant contact with all the parties involved to negotiate arrangements for Hodeidah that would address political, humanitarian, security concerns of all concerned parties,” he said.

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has said he “strongly supports” Griffiths’ efforts “to bring all sides of the conflict to the negotiating table”.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief warned of the “devastating” impact the assault would have.

“The latest developments will only lead to further escalation and instability in Yemen,” Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

The coalition insisted its humanitarian aid response would go in parallel with military operations.

Two Saudi and UAE aid ships were in the waters off Hodeidah, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki told Saudi state media.

The two countries also said they would operate a dedicated shipping lane to Hodeidah from Abu Dhabi and the southern Saudi city of Jizan to deliver food and medical supplies.

In Hodeidah, people waited anxiously for the fighting to reach their neighbourhoods. Those contacted by AFP said Houthi fighters had fanned out across the city.

Coalition sources said the alliance carried out 18 air strikes on Houthi positions on the outskirts of Hodeida on Wednesday.

According to medical sources in the province, 22 Houthi fighters were killed by coalition raids, while three pro-government fighters were killed in a rebel ambush south of Hodeidah.

The UAE armed forces said on Wednesday night that four Emirati soldiers were killed in Yemen, without specifying when and where.

The city of Hodeidah, home to 600,000 people, was captured by the insurgents in 2014 along with the capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and a bloc of other countries intervened in Yemen the following year with the goal of restoring the government to power.

The coalition accuses the Houthis of using the port to secure Iranian arms, notably ballistic missiles the militants have increasingly fired into Saudi territory.