UN envoy arrives in Yemen's Al-Hudaydah: Official

By Murat al-Arifi

SANAA (AA) - UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths on Friday arrived in Yemen’s western city of Al-Hudaydah as a string of explosions hit capital Sanaa, the seat of Yemen’s Houthi administration, according to a local official.

Griffiths is visiting Al-Hudaydah to assess the humanitarian situation in the Houthi-held coastal city and its seaport, which commands the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.

According to a local official who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity, Griffiths arrived in the city on Friday accompanied by Stephen L. Anderson, World Food Program Director in Yemen, and Lise Grande, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.

Griffiths, the same source said, is slated to visit the city’s Al-Thawra Hospital and Port of Hudaydah and meet with representatives of humanitarian groups.

The UN envoy’s visit comes as Houthi-held Sanaa was rocked by a string of intermittent explosions amid ongoing fighting between Houthi fighters and forces loyal to the Yemeni government, which is currently headquartered in the southern city of Aden.

The government claims that the Houthis use the Port of Hudaydah to import weapons from Iran. The port is also considered the main conduit into the country for humanitarian aid.

Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a devastating air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

Tens of thousands of people -- including numerous Yemeni civilians -- are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has left much of the country’s basic infrastructure in ruins.