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A8 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 20 June 2018

Yemeni officials say fighting rages around Hodeida airport

By AHMED AL-HAJ and thick smoke rising over
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — the airport.
Fierce fighting raged Tues- Also on Tuesday, the Saudi-
day outside the airport of led coalition bombed a
the crucial Yemeni city of bus carrying civilians, killing
Hodeida as thousands of six people on the outskirts
pro-government fighters of Hodeida, said a senior
backed by a Saudi-led co- Houthi-linked health offi-
alition battled Iranian-allied cial, Yahia Sharif Eddin. He
Shiite rebels for control of said four of the dead were
the Red Sea port — the women.
main passageway for food Witnesses, however, said
and aid supplies in a coun- that the coalition was tar-
try teetering on the brink of geting Houthi fighters when
famine. shrapnel hit the bus carry-
Coalition officials, mean- ing the civilians.
while, displayed weapons Earlier in the day, witnesses
captured on the battlefield said another airstrike tar-
that they said show Iran is geted a tractor driver and
now arming the insurgents, another man in eastern Ho-
known as Houthis, some- deida who were digging
thing Iran has long denied trenches for the Houthi
despite reports by the Unit- fighters. Both were killed.
ed Nations and Western Meanwhile, the United Na-
countries linking it to the A photographer takes pictures of what officials describe as an Iranian Qasef drone captured on tions special envoy for Ye-
rebels' arsenal. the battlefield in Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. men, Martin Griffiths, left
The weapons, shown to Associated Press Sanaa after three days of
reporters during a gov- talks with rebel leaders. He
ernment-sponsored tour mediately respond to a re- matter of hours before the Hodeida and the western briefed the U.N. Security
in the United Arab Emir- quest for comment. forces would take full con- coast, and block supplies Council on Monday by vid-
ates' capital of Abu Dhabi The rare display came as trol of the airport. from coming in from Sanaa. eo from the Yemeni capital
and at an Emirati military the UAE-backed Amaleqa The Amaleqa brigades The fighting has forced doz- on his proposals to restart
base, included drones, a brigades, supported by have captured dozens of ens of families to flee their political negotiations to
sniper rifle, roadside bombs airstrikes and naval shell- rebel fighters, including homes in the area around end the three-year conflict.
disguised as rocks and a ing from the Saudi-led minors, in the airport fight- the Kilo 16 road toward the The U.N. Office for the Co-
"drone boat," which had coalition, tried to storm ing, the official said. Com- countryside, witnesses said. ordination of Humanitarian
been filled with explosives the southern and western bat has been raging at They said the rebels have Affairs said the heavy fight-
that failed to detonate. parts of the Hodeida air- the southern runway less fortified the area in prepa- ing poses a danger to the
Emirati officials said they port. They faced fierce re- than a mile (one kilometer) ration for a likely coming warehouses used for hu-
included Iranian-labeled sistance from rebel snipers from the main airport com- battle against government manitarian aid in the port
components inside equip- and land mines encircling pound. forces. city.
ment used to produce and the airport. Witnesses said coalition A senior Houthi official, Mo- In its daily report, the
load fuel for rockets the "It is a vast, open area and warships and warplanes hammed al-Bukaiti, con- U.N. agency said fighting
rebels have fired across the the Houthis have covered have been hitting the air- firmed the fierce fighting has engulfed several dis-
border at Saudi Arabia. the ground with land mines port and the eastern side of at the Hodeida airport. tricts outside of Hodeida,
"We can say that these el- to prevent the forces' ad- Hodeida around the clock "Battles are raging south of prompting relief agencies
ements are military-grade vancements," one Yemeni since late Monday, aiming the airport under unprece- to relocate stocks away
materials imported from military official said, speak- to cut off the main road dented air cover," he wrote from the battles, which has
Iran to the Houthi militias," ing on condition of ano- that links Hodeida and the on Facebook. made some aid warehous-
Talal al-Teneiji, an Emirati nymity because he was rebel-held capital, Sanaa. More than 40 airstrikes from es inaccessible.
Foreign Affairs Ministry of- not authorized to brief the Government forces have the Saudi-led coalition hit The U.N. said on Monday
ficial, told The Associated media. "It's back and forth been trying for days to the airport since Tuesday that over 5,200 families
Press. Iran's mission to the battles." capture the Kilo 16 road to morning, Houthi officials have fled the fighting since
United Nations did not im- Still, the official said it was a trap the Houthi rebels inside said. Witnesses reported fire June 1.q