Yemen’s Hudaydah to reopen for aid, Saudi Arabia says

The Saudi-led coalition announced today that it will be re-opening the port of Hudaydah for 30 days, Saudi Press Agency reported.

In continuation of the keenness by the coalition countries to provide humanitarian assistance to the brotherly Yemeni people and as a result of the intensification of the inspection procedures, the coalition command supporting legitimacy in Yemen announces the continuation of opening Hudaydah port to humanitarian and relief supplies and allowing the entry of commercial ships, including fuel and food vessels, for a period of 30 days to implement the proposals of the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen concerning the port of Hudaydah

the statement said.

The port of Hudaydah is controlled by the Houthi armed group, which the Saudi-led coalition was invited to neutralise by the UN-backed Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in March 2015.

Last month, Saudi Arabia claimed to have eased the air, land and sea blockade on Yemen which was put in place following a missile strike by the Houthi group fired towards Riyadh. Yesterday a similar incident took place, with a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh which was intercepted. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council forces are assisting groups allied with former president, the late Ali Abdullah Saleh, alongside Hadi’s national army to recapture the port of Hudaydah from the Houthis. The new alliance fighting the Houthis is marching along the West coast. The district of Khokha, 122 kilometres south of Hudaydah, has already fallen to the new alliance, threatening the Houthi territorial positions.

Saudi Arabia has continued to support the new alliance with air strikes since the killing of Saleh early this month. The United Nations human rights spokesman said that Saudi-coalition air strikes have killed at least 136 civilians in Yemen since 6 December.

Hudaydah is a lifeline for the Yemeni people who are currently living through what the United Nations has called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with more than 10 million people who require immediate assistance. In November, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, warned “it will be the largest famine the world has seen for many decades”.

Read: Saudi strikes kill 136 civilians in Yemen, UN says