Yemen loyalists push deeper into Hodeida as US cuts refuelling support
- Rebels put up fierce resistance to the government advance towards the city’s docks, which are vital for getting aid into the country
Yemeni government forces pressed further into the strategic port city of Hodeida, seizing its main hospital in heavy fighting Saturday, as their Saudi-led coalition backers put a brave face on an end to US refuelling support.
A loyalist official said mortar rounds were “falling like rain” in the streets as troops weathered rebel-laid mines and snipers to take control of the main hospital in the city of some 600,000 people.
The rebels have put up fierce resistance to the government advance towards the city’s vital docks, which are the point of entry for 80 per cent of Yemen’s commercial imports and nearly all UN-supervised humanitarian aid.
The suspension of US assistance to refuel coalition aircraft comes as Washington’s backing of the war effort faces increased scrutiny following international outrage over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder last month in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The grinding Saudi-led war in Yemen has caused growing international unease after high-profile coalition air strikes that have killed scores of civilians, many of them children.
The intensified coalition-backed push into Hodeida, which has claimed the lives of at least 382 combatants this month, comes despite aid agency warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe in the event of a protracted battle for the city.
