Saudi-led coalition halts assault on Yemen’s Hudaydah

The Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has ordered a temporary halt to its military offensive on the Yemeni portal city of Hudaydah under international pressure, Reuters reported.

A military source said the coalition has instructed its ground troops to stop fighting in the vital port city.

The decision comes amid calls by Western countries for a ceasefire before the UN-led peace effort resume.

Advisor to the Yemeni Minister of Information, Mukhtar Rahbi, said the war in Hudaydah will not be permanently stopped but has been halted to allow the consultations sponsored by the United Nations to kick off, noting that the battles in Yemen were stopped many times.

Rahbi said he believes the Houthis are not serious about the consultations.

Read: Air strikes kill 10 civilians in Yemen’s Hudaydah province

The Yemeni official noted that the international community does not have real means to pressure the Houthis, because they are not a political entity.

Western pressure mounted on Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen especially after the brutal killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.