Saudi-led coalition troops seize Yemen's port neighborhood on the brink of starvation

Sanaa, Yemen – Troops from a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States on Wednesday hit Houthi rebel positions in the port city of Hodeida, Yemen, with air strikes and a ground attack. They now control a major road to the city, military officials and witnesses on both sides of the front line said.

Hodeida became the epicenter of the conflict in Yemen. Its port is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis threatened with famine, reports BBC News. Up to 80% of humanitarian supplies, fuel and commercial property on which they depend are delivered through the facility. United Nations officials have warned that if it is damaged, destroyed or blocked, the toll in human life could be catastrophic.

The Saudi-led coalition, which seeks to re-establish the internationally recognized Yemeni government, has been at war with the Houthis since March 2015. The United States has sold billions of dollars worth of arms to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and provided logistical and other support to the coalition.

A new coalition offensive on Hodeida was launched five days ago. Dozens of fighters have been killed and hundreds more injured since the start of the new offensive. The fighting left corpses lying on the ground and inside burning vehicles at the edge of town, according to witnesses. According to them, several civilians were killed by shelling in residential areas.

A health facility supported by Save the Children in Hodeida was attacked Tuesday morning, damaging one of the pharmacies providing lifesaving drugs, said the charity in a statement. The group said the shelling had also affected residential areas of Hodeida, where hundreds of thousands of people, half of them children, are in danger of death.

The head of the UN Food and Agricultural Agency and other groups said the conflict had pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, underlining that the international community was failing to eliminate hunger.

"We are watching before our eyes an unprecedented human tragedy," said José Graziano da Silva, president of the Organization for Food and Agriculture, during a high-level briefing on food insecurity in the United States in New York.

"Yemen is living proof of an apocalyptic equation: conflict and food security go hand in hand, and when there is an overlap of climate change and conflict, famine is already on the horizon" , did he declare.