KHOKHA, Yemen (AFP)–The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen killed 38 rebels in the past 24 hours in air strikes on the strategic port of Hodeida, military and medical sources said on Monday.
The latest raids come just days before peace talks in Geneva between the internationally recognised government backed by the coalition and the Shiite Huthi rebels linked to Iran.
Pro-government military sources told AFP the coalition targeted Huthi sites, including a roundabout in the south that leads to the centre of Hodeida city and near a naval academy to the west.
Four military vehicles belonging to the rebels were also targeted near Hodeida’s airport.
Medical sources in Hodeida said 38 Huthi rebel fighters were killed and 26 were wounded.
Hodeida’s port serves as an entry point for some 70 percent of imports in a country where eight million people face imminent famine.
The Red Sea port has been controlled by the rebels since 2014, when they drove the government out of Sanaa and much of the country.
The government and the coalition accuse the Huthis of receiving smuggled weapons through Hodeida and have demanded their unconditional withdrawal from the city.
Pro-government forces backed by the alliance have paused their assault on Hodeida port after launching an offensive in June in what they say is a bid to give UN-led peace efforts a chance.
Thursday’s talks in Geneva are expected to focus on the fate of embattled Hodeida, as well as a prisoner exchange deal.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other allies intervened in the conflict between Yemen’s government and rebels in March 2015, aiming to push back the Huthis and return the government to power.
Nearly 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict since then, 2,200 of them children.
© Agence France-Presse