UPDATE - Saudi-backed forces storm Yemen’s Hudaydah airport

*UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Ali Oweida

SANAA (AA) – Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition stormed the airport in western Yemen’s port city of Al-Hudaydah on Tuesday amid clashes with Houthi rebels.

Yemeni military commander Abu Zaraa al-Mahrami said government forces have seized control of the airport’s runway.

“The airport compound, however, remains under the control of the Houthis,” he told Anadolu Agency.

The army's September.net website, citing a military source, said government forces have captured vast areas in the airport compound after deadly clashes with the rebels.

According to the website, the Saudi-backed forces have begun to clear the airport from Houthi rebels.

A Yemeni military source earlier told Anadolu Agency that the rebels were trying to disrupt the advance of government forces into the airport compound.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said deadly clashes were flaring up in the vicinity of the airport.

Local residents said sounds of powerful explosions were heard around the airport with billows of smoke rising from inside the airport compound.

There was no comment from the Shia Houthi group on the report.

Last week, Yemeni government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, launched a wide-ranging operation to retake Al-Hudaydah -- and its seaport -- from the Houthis.

Yemen’s internationally-recognized government (currently based in the port city of Aden) and its allies accuse the Houthis of using the seaport to smuggle weapons into the country from Iran.

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

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

The following year, UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait failed to end the destructive conflict.

The ongoing 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 of modern times”.