Saudi-led air strikes have killed 28 Houthi rebels south of the port of Hodeida on Yemen's west coast, medics and security sources close to the insurgents said on Friday.
The reports came as the Uited Nations refugee agency UNHCR warned of a new displacement of civilians in the area.
The
security sources said the air strikes on Thursday and Friday hit five
towns controlled by the Houthis around 70 kilometres south of Hodeida.
Medical sources said 28 Houthis were killed and 17 others wounded in the strikes.
There has been no let-up in the air campaign against the rebels that a Saudi-led coalition has been waging since March 2015.
The air strikes have intensified since the December 4 killing of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh at the hands of the Houthis after his alliance with the rebels collapsed.
At
the same time forces of the Yemeni government have stepped up attacks
on the rebels and last week retook the Red Sea town of Khokha from the
Houthis.
The security sources said new clashes broke out on Friday as government forces tried to push towards Hodeida.
UNHCR
said it was “bracing for further displacement and a spike in
humanitarian needs as hostilities intensify in frontline areas on
Yemen's west coast”.
Hodeida is the main conduit for
UN-supervised deliveries of food and medicine but the rebel-held port is
controlled by the Houthis and remains closed, forcing the UN to divert
aid supplies to other areas.
“To date we have deployed
emergency relief items for 2,000 families in Hodeida, and a further
2,000 aid kits are on their way along with 2,000 emergency shelter
kits,” the UNHCR said in a statement.
“As the port of
Hodeida remains closed an additional 43 containers with emergency,
shelter and household aid, including plastic tarpaulins and blankets for
more than 20,000 families, had to be diverted to Aden,” it added.
More
than 2,000 people have died of cholera in Yemen this year, adding to
the 8,600 killed in the conflict between the Saudi-backed government and
rebels since 2015.
