Yemen's rebels claim killing 13 soldiers in Hodeidah attack

Yemen's Houthi rebels fighting government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeidah claimed they have killed 13 soldiers during an attack on Tuesday.

In a statement carried by the rebel-controlled Saba news agency, the rebels said they have also wounded 20 other soldiers during the attack on Tuesday against the government troops, Xinhua reported.

They said they launched the attack on the government forces-controlled sites south of Kilo 16 highway, which links the port city with the capital Sanaa. Both cities are still under the rebel control.

However, the rebels said they failed to retake the sites due to heavy airstrikes by the coalition that backed the Yemeni internationally recognised government forces. The Houthi rebels reported no casualties among their fighters.

There was no immediate comment from the government side, which stations in the southern port city of Aden since the rebels stormed the capital Sanaa more than three years ago.

The war has escalated in Hodeidah following the collapse of peacemaking efforts last month by the UN in Geneva after Houthi rebels refused to attend.

The Hodeidah port is a main entry point of about 70 per cent of Yemen's food, medicines, aid and fuel.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen on March 2015 to reinstate the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Sanaa after the Houthi rebels forced him into exile. The war has killed over 10,000 people and displaced nearly three million.

--IANS

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