Houthi leader's brother may be killed in offensive on Yemen's Hodeidah – Reports
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi’s brother and 16 more senior members of the rebel movement may have been killed when the Saudi-led coalition struck their meeting ground in the militia-controlled port of Hodeidah in western Yemen, the Saudi Khabar Ajil media outlet reported on Wednesday.
Early on Wednesday, Yemeni government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, launched a full-scale offensive to seize Hodeidah, which is a strategic stronghold of the Houthi rebels and a key entry point for humanitarian aid.
Neither the coalition nor the rebels have confirmed the death of the leader’s brother, the Saudi Khabar Ajil media said.
The operation was launched after Houthis ignored the government’s offer of peaceful settlement, which expired on Tuesday night. The government said it had exhausted all possible political and diplomatic means to make the rebels withdraw its forces from the port city.
Yemen has been in a state of civil war since 2015. The government forces of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi fight the predominantly Shia-led Houthis with the help of Saudi Arabia and its allies. The UN attempts to bring the conflicting parties to the negotiating table have not yielded any major results so far.
Sputnik.
Neither the coalition nor the rebels have confirmed the death of the leader’s brother, the Saudi Khabar Ajil media said.
The operation was launched after Houthis ignored the government’s offer of peaceful settlement, which expired on Tuesday night. The government said it had exhausted all possible political and diplomatic means to make the rebels withdraw its forces from the port city.
Yemen has been in a state of civil war since 2015. The government forces of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi fight the predominantly Shia-led Houthis with the help of Saudi Arabia and its allies. The UN attempts to bring the conflicting parties to the negotiating table have not yielded any major results so far.
Sputnik.