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Renewed battle for Hodeida sparks humanitarian crisis

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ADEN: Government forces in Yemen launched a series of attacks on Ansar Allah-held Hodeida, military officials said on Tuesday, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis as an 11-week pause in the battle for the port city ended.


The Ansar Allah fighters accused the government and its allies of deliberately targeting food warehouses on Monday night, as the coalition said it had resumed a “military operation to liberate Hodeida and its port”.


The fight for Hodeida, which the Ansar Allah seized in 2014, had been put on hold for 11 weeks as the United Nations struggled to bring warring parties to peace talks in Geneva.


But the talks collapsed earlier this month after the northern Yemeni fighters failed to turn up in Geneva.


The Red Sea port of Hodeida is a vital lifeline for aid shipments to Yemen, the most impoverished country in the Arab world.


The United Nations has warned that any major fighting could halt food distributions to eight million Yemenis dependent on them for survival.


Brigadier General Ali al Taniji, commander of coalition forces on Yemen’s west coast, confirmed the alliance had launched an operation in Hodeida, in a statement.


Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior coalition official said the operation was being fought on multiple fronts.


Residents in and around the city, home to a population of 600,000, reported hearing explosions throughout Monday night.


The Ansar Allah accused the coalition of targeting food supply warehouses in the raids, charging the international community was complicit in the attacks.


“International food supply warehouses were targeted in Hodeida, a clear sign that there is a plan... to make warehouses and densely populated neighbourhoods legitimate targets of their terrorist operations,” said the head of the Ansar Allah’s Supreme Revolutionary Council, Mohammed Ali al Huthi.


“International tolerance of terrorism has only encouraged (the coalition) to plan and deliberately commit crimes,” Al Huthi said.


A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition did not respond to a request for comment, while a World Food Programme spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the UN agency’s facilities had been hit.


Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse the Ansar Allah of smuggling arms through Hodeida and has imposed a partial blockade on the port. The Ansar Allah and others deny the charges.


UN envoy Martin Griffiths left the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday, ending a three-day trip.


Griffiths is pushing for new peace talks after proposed negotiations between the Ansar Allah and government fell apart in Geneva earlier this month when Ansar Allah delegates failed to show up, say they had not received guarantees for their safe return home afterwards.


The United Nations on Monday announced it was working to open a humanitarian air bridge to transport Yemeni cancer patients abroad for treatment.


The Ansar Allah said plans to fly patients out of Sanaa on Tuesday had been foiled by the coalition, accusing it of failing to cooperate.


World Health Organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said there was “no date set for the first flight” pending “final approval from all parties”.


While the Ansar Allah controls the capital, home to Yemen’s main international airport, Saudi Arabia and its allies control Yemen’s airspace. Sanaa international airport is currently under blockade.


In wheelchairs and carrying sick babies, Yemenis in the Ansar Allah-held capital lined up on Tuesday outside the health ministry as rumours of the impending flight spread.


Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Yemen’s Ambassador to the UN, said his government was willing to “do whatever it takes to alleviate the suffering and pain of Yemenis”, in a letter to Secretary-General


Antonio Guterres. — AFP


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