UPDATE - UN's Yemen envoy arrives in Houthi-held Al-Hudaydah

*UPDATE WITH GRIFFITHS REMARKS

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 rocked capital Sanaa, the seat of Yemen’s Houthi administration.

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.

The envoy reportedly arrived in the city on Friday accompanied by Stephen L. Anderson, the World Food Program’s director in Yemen, and UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande.

He is expected to visit the city’s Al-Thawra Hospital and Port of Hudaydah and meet with local representatives of humanitarian groups.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, the envoy said that the UN should assume a “leading role” in the seaport’s administration.

“I spoke yesterday in Sanaa with the Houthi leadership,” he said. “And we agreed that the UN should begin consultations [with the Houthis] with a view to assuming a leading role at the port.”

“We believe such a role will preserve this critical humanitarian corridor… and bolster the port’s operational capacity,” he added.

The envoy’s visit comes as Houthi-held Sanaa was rocked by a string of explosions amid ongoing fighting between Houthi fighters and forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed 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. But the port is also considered a main conduit 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.