Troops backed by a Saudi Arabian-led coalition yesterday stormed the airport compound of Yemen’s main port city, Hodeidah, after fierce battles with Iran-aligned Houthis fighting to defend their sole port, residents and Yemeni military sources said.
The capture of the airport would be an important gain for the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who have said they can seize the heavily defended city quickly enough to avoid interrupting aid to millions facing starvation.
“They have stormed the airport,” an anti-Houthi Yemeni military source told reporters.
Photo: AFP
A resident also said the compound had been stormed.
“This is the first time we hear the clashes so clearly. We can hear the sound of artillery and machine gun fire,” the resident, who requested anonymity, told reporters, adding that warplanes bombarded the airport earlier in the morning.
The Western-backed alliance launched the onslaught on Hodeidah seven days ago to turn the tables in a long-stalemated proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran that has compounded instability across the Middle East.
The upsurge in fighting has wounded and displaced dozens of civilians and hampered the work of aid groups in the port city, which is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis.
The UN says that 22 million Yemenis depend on aid, and that 8.4 million are on the verge of starvation.
The coalition was taking a measured approach to minimize risks to civilians, and allowing the Houthis an escape route inland to their bastion in Sanaa, the capital, Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Monday.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese