Alwaght- Saudi-led coalition's bloody war on Yemen could take an even grimmer turn as aggressors are closing in on main port city of Hodeidah where handles the bulk of the nation's commercial imports and critically-needed aid supplies.
“Hodeidah is 20 km (12.43 miles) away and operations are continuing,” the coalition's spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said at a press briefing in the Saudi capital Riyadh late on Monday.
The Western-backed military alliance last year announced plans to move on Hodeidah, but backed off amid international pressure, with the United Nations warning that any attack on the country’s largest port would have a “catastrophic” impact.
"Between 100,000 and half a million people could be displaced as the conflict and humanitarian situation continue to worsen," said Shabia Mantoo, the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
Saudi and the UAE mercenaries have now reached al-Durayhmi, a rural area some 18 km from Hodeidah port, Reuters reported.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis have been fleeing Hodeidah, Yemen’s second most populous province, as fighting intensifies on the frontlines, Amnesty International reported earlier this month.
The Red Sea port, which is controlled by the Yemeni forces and Ansarullah movement, is the main point of entry for an estimated 80 percent of the war-torn country's food imports and relief aid.
Yemen, one of the Arab world’s poorest countries, has been facing a brutal aggression led by its northern neighbor Saudi Arabia since March 2015. Nearly 14,000 Yemenis, mostly women, children and the elderly, have been killed since the onset of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign.
The UN considers Yemen to be the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22.2 million people in need of humanitarian aid. At least 16 million people do not have access to clean water and proper sanitation, while over 60 percent of Yemenis are on the brink of starvation.
