Saudi and UAE-led coalition troops on Tuesday stormed Al-Hodeidah Airport in western Yemen, capturing large areas around the main airport after a week of continued fighting with the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Earlier on Saturday, the Arab coalition forces said they captured the airport despite Houthi officials denying that the coalition troops entered the airport. However, this time, a Houthi military source confirmed the news to Reuters, saying “They have stormed the airport.”
Last Wednesday, Saudi and UAE-led coalition forces launched a massive military operation on Al-Hodeidah, the gateway for food supplies to the war-torn country.
The coalition started fighting with the aim of defeating the Houthi movement, which controls the strategic port city. Warplanes fired missiles and bombs on Houthi targets near Al-Hodeidah Airport.
Since the fighting intensified in the rebel-held city, hundreds of Yemeni people have been trapped in their homes inside the city due to the continued clashes.
On Monday, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, announced that around 26,000 people have fled the intensive fighting, seeking other safe areas in Al-Hodeidah governorate. Dujarric warned that the number is expected to increase as “hostilities continue.”
Furthermore, the UN special envoy, Martin Griffiths, arrived in Sanaa on Saturday for emergency crisis talks regarding the clashes that started in the famine-stricken country.
Griffiths briefed the UN Security Council with a proposal to restart political negotiations to end the three-year conflict in the poor country, which was welcomed by the council members.
