Yemen war: Battle rages over Hudaydah airport

[muriel_volestrangler]

Pro-government forces in Yemen, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have launched air strikes on the airport that serves the key port city of Hudaydah.

They have also been fighting Houthi rebels on the ground with mortar fire.

The pro-government forces said they had taken control of the airport on Saturday, but the rebels denied this.
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AFP news agency quotes medical and military sources as saying at least 139 fighters - most of them rebels - have been killed. Houthi news sources say more than 50 pro-government forces have been killed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-44512622

UN in advanced talks to take over besieged Yemen port

Talks are at an advanced stage for the United Nations to take over the administration of the vital port of Hodeidah under siege from a Saudi-led coalition, the UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande said on Sunday.

The Red Sea port is the main distribution point for commercial and humanitarian supplies into Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition have threatened to seize the port militarily from Houthi rebels, but the UN special envoy Martin Griffiths is trying to broker a deal for the port to be administered independently by the UN. This would meet Saudi demands that the Iranian-backed Houthis can no longer use Yemen’s main entry point to smuggle arms and raise taxes to keep their war economy alive.

Both Britain and France failed to persuade the Saudi-led coalition not to mount the offensive last week, fearing the military attacks risk interrupting the supply of vital aid into a deeply fragile state.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/17/un-in-advanced-talks-to-take-over-yemen-port-hodeidah-under-saudi-led-siege

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Yemen war: Pro-government forces 'storm Hudaydah airport'

Yemeni pro-government forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates, are reported to have stormed the airport serving the rebel-held Red Sea city of Hudaydah.

The UAE's state news agency, Wam, said troops had gained control of large parts of the facility and that dozens of Houthi rebels were dead or wounded.
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Wam reported on Tuesday that Yemeni and Emirati troops had entered the airport, in the south of the city, after they "destroyed the defences of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias".

Troops captured dozens of rebels and also found many dead and wounded, including field commanders, the news agency said. Yemeni military sources confirmed that the airport had been stormed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-44534118