US-backed troops capture Yemen's port area during ground attacks and airstrikes

SANAA, Yemen – Troops from a Saudi-backed and US-backed coalition on Wednesday hit Houthi rebels in Hodeida, Yemen, with air raids and a ground attack. They now control a main road leading to the city, military officials and front-line witnesses said.

A force formed by the Emirati, known as the "Giants" and supported by Apache attack helicopters, secured an urban area along 50th Street, leading to the city's main port facilities, 5 km away. from the city, he added.

Speaking under the guise of anonymity for fear of retaliation or lack of permission to inform the reporters, they said Iranian-backed Shiite rebels were firing mainly from positions snipers on rooftops and on the roof, and now used hot tires to hide the sight of the soldiers. . Most civilians have fled the area, they said.

Dozens of fighters have been killed and hundreds more injured since the beginning of a new coalition offensive against the city five days ago, as a result of appeals launched by the Trump administration for a ceasefire by the end of November.

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.

The Saudi-led coalition, which seeks to re-establish the internationally recognized Yemeni government, has been at war with the Houthis since March 2015. Deadlocked conflict has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis .

Hodeida, the main portal of humanitarian aid to the suffering population, has become the epicenter of the conflict.

A health center supported by Save the Children in Hodeida was attacked Tuesday morning, damaging one of the pharmacies providing life-saving 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 charity did not specify which group had attacked the institution.

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.

Also Wednesday, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders announced the closure of its humanitarian project in the southern province of Dhale, due to security issues related to clashes in this region.

In addition to Dhale, other active fronts in Yemen include the southern provinces of Bayda and northern Houthi fortresses Hajjah and Saada.

The United States has sold billions of dollars worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and provided logistical and other support to the coalition.

In a statement, rebel leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi called the US cease-fire a hypocrite, given that new fighting erupted almost immediately after its delivery.

"The Americans have always sought escalation by issuing declarations of peace while preparing for war," the minister said in comments relayed by rebel media, adding that the new offensive was expected. "The role of the United States is central and essential in the military operation against our people."

The rebels, who brandish slogans such as "Death to America and Israel" similar to those of the Iranian rulers, accuse the coalition of being master traders in Washington and Israel.

Rohan reported from Cairo.