ADEN, Nov 18 (NNN-SABA) – Sporadic clashes erupted between pro-government forces and Houthi rebels, in Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Sunday.
“The Houthis launched a large-scale attack on several positions of the joint forces stationed in Tuhyata district, in the south of Hodeidah, using heavy and medium weapons,” the military source of the pro-government Giants Brigades said.
“The pro-government forces engaged in ferocious clashes with the Houthis, causing casualties among the attackers, as well as, the loss of their military equipment,” he added.
The Houthis also fired heavy shells at government’s military sites in Hays area, in the southeast of Hodeidah, the source noted.
A day earlier, pro-government forces announced the abortion of a Houthi attack and killing seven of the attackers in Hodeidah’s district of Tuhyata.
Last month, the United Nations started deploying cease-fire observers in Hodeidah, establishing five observation points near the military contact lines between the two warring parties.
The observation points are manned by liaison officers from both parties, in accordance with a UN-sponsored cease-fire agreement reached in Stockholm in Dec, 2018.
As the main Yemeni port city along the coast of the Red Sea, Hodeidah is the key lifeline entry of most of Yemen’s commercial imports and humanitarian aid.
The cease-fire deal in Stockholm was seen as the first phase towards achieving a comprehensive political solution to the civil war.– NNN-SABA