Saudi-Led Coalition Targets Houthi Military Positions in Yemen’s Hudaydah – Reports

The Saudi-led coalition occupying portions of Yemen said Friday it had struck targets around the port city of Al Hudaydah, after the Houthis fired a missile at a utility plant in southern Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters, citing a statement carried by Saudi state media.

According to media report, the coalition also hit booby-trapped boats that the Houthis had prepared for terrorist acts and to threaten international shipping.

The Saudi-led coalition has been supporting the Yemeni government in its conflict with the Houthi movement, also referred to as Ansar Allah. The conflict, which has been raging since 2015, has resulted in a huge civilian death toll and has plunged the country into a humanitarian disaster.

Over the course of the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition has launched several offensives against the port city of Al Hudaydah, aggravating an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the country.

The civil war in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, has created what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 24 million people – over 80 percent of the country’s population – currently in need of humanitarian assistance.

In December 2018, the parties to the conflict in Yemen met at a negotiating table in Stockholm organized under UN auspices, reaching a number of important agreements, in particular, the implementation of a ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners and open humanitarian corridors in the port city of Al Hudaydah.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said Monday that the war in Yemen, however, has nonetheless become more violent with an upsurge in incidents, adding that the conflict has devastated Yemen’s economy.