Over 150 people killed in weekend violence around Yemen’s Hodeida

Fighting has escalated around Yemen’s key port city of Hodeida, with more than 150 combatants killed over the weekend from both the rebel and government-backed sides, officials said Sunday.

Air strikes and naval artillery pounded rebel positions around the Red Sea coastal city, where government backed-troops are launching a major ground assault in an attempt to wrest it from dug-in rebels. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Fierce fighting also erupted in the provinces of Bayda, to the south, and Saada, a Houthi stronghold in the north, they added.

Yemen has been at war since March 2015 when the rebels, known as Houthis, occupied northern regions and forced the government into exile. Since then, a Saudi-led, US-backed coalition supporting the largely exiled government has blockaded the rebel-held north and waged a devastating air campaign, causing thousands of deaths. The US has sold billions of dollars’ worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and provides logistical and other support to the coalition, while the coalition, which backs the exiled government, accuses the Houthis of acting as Iran’s proxy.

The war has led to a humanitarian crisis that is one of the worst in the world, with three quarters of Yemen’s population requiring some form of life-saving assistance and protection, according to the United Nations Population Fund. An estimated 10,000 people have been killed and more than 8 million are at risk of starvation from a looming famine, including 2 million mothers who are risking death.