Airstrikes on the Houthi rebel-held port city of Hodeidah in Yemen are escalating the risk of food and humanitarian supplies from the port being cut off, a UN boss has warned.
The port is the primary gateway for food and humanitarian supplies into war-stricken Yemen but since 2014 it has been in the hands of Houthi rebels who have been battling government forces aided by a Saudi-led coalition, which has been deploying war planes since fighting escalated in 2015.
UN humanitarian chief Lise Grande said in a statement that “for weeks, we’ve been doing everything possible to help hundreds of thousands of people living in and near Hudaydah”, however, “these airstrikes are putting innocent civilians at extreme risk.”
Huge impact
More than 70% of Yemen's imports pass through Hodeidah’s docks, meaning if the port were to be hit the city would be left with severe shortages of vital supplies.
Overall, 22m people – or 75% of the Yemeni population – require some form of humanitarian help or protection, said the UN.
Coalition forces moved on Hodeidah in the middle of last month, but diplomatic moves led by the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, have helped to prevent an all-out military invasion of the city, while the warring parties negotiate a potential deal that could allow fighters to leave, the UN stated.
The strikes are also increasing the threat of a cholera outbreak due to infrastructure damage, said Ms Grande.
Saudi Arabia said it was going to suspend oil shipments through the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb strait, according to Reuters.
Last November a UN order forced commercial ships to leave Yemen’s ports of Hodeidah and Saleef.
