US-Backed Troops Take Main Road to Yemen’s Vital Aid Port

Shelling hits important hospital in surrounded area

US-backed forces loyal to the Saudi and UAE governments continue to attack the main Yemeni aid port of Hodeidah Wednesday. While the city itself remains unbreached, ground troops have seized the main road leading into the city, even more tightly restricting flow to and from it.

The Saudi-led naval blockade has put Yemen, which relies on food imports for over 90% of its food, on the brink of a major famine. Hodeidah is the main import site for food, and the last port under the control of the Houthi movement. If the port falls, there will be no way to get food to almost the entire north of the country.

The Houthis are using snipers to keep ground troops from entering the main port area after weeks of offensives. In recent days, they’ve also started tire fires to try to obscure visibility of the port, in an attempt to make it harder for Saudi warships to target the city.

Amid growing international calls to stop threatening the vital port, the Houthis’ leader issued a statement calling US calls for a ceasefire “hypocritical,” given US-backed forces have dramatically escalated their attacks since the call, and US support for those forces has not slowed.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.