At least 61 combatants have been killed in clashes in Yemen’s flashpoint of Hodeida, and dozens of wounded have been taken to hospitals outside the city, medics and a military source said yesterday.
Medics in the Red Sea city reported that 43 Houthi rebels and nine loyalists were killed in clashes over the past two days.
Another nine loyalist fighters were reported killed by medics at a hospital in government-held Mocha, south of Hodeida. A government military source confirmed the toll.
Photo: AFP
Dozens of wounded rebels were transferred to hospitals in the Sana’a and Ibb governorates, further inland, a source at the Hodeida military hospital said.
A pro-government alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is pushing to seize Hodeida from Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels, who are linked to Iran. More than 400 combatants have been killed in 10 days of clashes in Hodeida, a city on the coast that is home to the country’s most valuable port.
Government forces have pressed further into the strategic city, on Saturday seizing its main hospital in heavy fighting as they try to advance on Hodeida’s vital docks
Hodeida has been controlled by the Houthis since 2014, when the rebels seized Sana’a, the capital, and a string of port cities.
The WHO estimates that nearly 10,000 people have been killed since 2015, when Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the government’s war against the Houthis, driving the insurgents from the Red Sea coastline, but failing to retake Hodeida.
Other rights groups believe that the toll could be five times as high.
The conflict has triggered what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 14 million Yemenis facing starvation.
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