LONDON: The Yemeni army backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition announced Tuesday that its forces had succeeded in blocking the Hodeidah-Sanaa road leaving the Iran-backed Houthi militia without their vital link to the capital Sanaa.
The army added in a statement on its official web page, that its forces backed by the coalition outmaneuvered Houthi militia and secured the "kilo16" intersection point on the road to Sanaa. The Yemeni army statement said that this will deny the Houthis in Hodeidah essential supplies and ammunition.
The statement said that this advance leaves little choice for the encircled Houthi militia in the city of Hodeidah.
Earlier, Yemen’s army, backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, claimed full control of Hodeidah airport after fierce clashes with the Iran-backed Houthi militia, Saudi state-news channel Al Ekhbariya reported. The army advanced south-west of the airport towards 'Durahmi' in a push to secure the airport.
According to military sources, violent clashes erupted between the army and militia in the 'Wadi Nakhl' province, on the outskirts of Durahmi.
The Saudi-led coalition entered the main compound of Yemen’s Hodeidah airport on Tuesday, Yemeni military sources in the alliance and a resident told Reuters.
“They have stormed the airport,” said one Yemeni military source. A resident said the forces stormed the airport after fierce battles broke out early in the morning between coalition forces and Iran-aligned Houthi militants who hold the main port city of Hodeidah.
