4 Yemen soldiers killed fighting Houthis in Al-Hudaydah

By Murad al-Arifi

MAARIB, Yemen (AA) - At least four Yemeni soldiers were killed on Thursday in fierce fighting to recapture Yemen’s western port city of Al-Hudaydah from Houthi rebels.

“Four government soldiers were killed in the fighting while more than 10 others were injured,” a military source, who preferred not to be named, told Anadolu Agency.

He added that several Yemeni soldiers had been captured by the rebels -- he did not say how many -- during Thursday’s clashes.

Recent days have witnessed violent clashes in and around Al-Hudaydah between government forces backed by a Saudi-led air coalition and the Houthis.

In earlier statements, the army had said that government forces were advancing on the city of Al-Hudaydah after having seized control of the Nakhilah Market roughly seven kilometers from the city’s main airport.

Houthi spokesmen, for their part, have yet to comment on the army’s claims.

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition launched a major operation to recapture the port of Al-Hudaydah -- a vital supply line for humanitarian aid entering the war-torn country.

Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthis -- from their historical stronghold in the northern Saada province -- overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies, who accuse the Shia Houthis of serving as Iranian proxies, launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The violence has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as one of “the worst humanitarian disasters in modern times”.