Sana’a: Arab Coalition forces have “liberated” the airport in Yemen’s main port city of Hodeidah, the media office of the Yemeni military said yesterday.
“Army forces backed by the resistance and the Arab alliance freed Hodeidah international airport from the grip of the Houthi militia,” the media office said on Twitter.
A source with the coalition-backed Yemeni military said troops had surrounded the main airport building.
“We need some time to make sure there are no gunmen, mines or explosives in the building,” the source said. The media office said technical teams were de-mining the surrounding area.
The Western-backed alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, says it can swiftly capture the port, the only one the Houthis control, without major disruption to aid supplies.
The UN envoy for Yemen held emergency talks in rebel-controlled capital Sana’a yesterday over the key aid port of Hodeidah. Martin Griffiths was believed to be pushing a deal for rebel leaders to cede control of the Red Sea port to a UN-supervised committee and halt heavy clashes against advancing government troops backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The envoy did not make any statement on his arrival at Sana’a international airport.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash on Twitter backed “the envoy’s efforts to facilitate the safe handover of Hodeida to the legitimate Yemeni Government”.
“The people of Hodeidah urgently want to be liberated. The coalition will continue with its military and humanitarian preparations to achieve this urgent result,” Gargash wrote.
Yemen’s government and its allies launched their offensive on Wednesday, since when at least 139 combatants have been killed, according to medical and military sources.
The Houthi rebels have controlled the Hodeidah region with its population of some 600,000 people since 2014. Earlier this year, the Saudi-led coalition imposed a near-total blockade on the city’s port alleging it was being used as a conduit for arms smuggling to the rebels by its regional arch rival Iran.
The capture of Hodeidah would be the coalition’s biggest victory of the war so far.
The Yemeni army yesterday claimed it had seized control of the rebel base at Hodeidah’s disused airport, which has been closed since 2014.