Legitimate Yemeni forces, supported by the Saudi-backed Arab coalition, advanced on Yemen’s Hodeidah airport on Friday, capturing the entrance of the facility after fierce clashes with the Iran-backed Houthi militias.
The Yemeni army launched on Wednesday operation Golden Victory to recapture Hodeidah province and its strategic port from Houthi clutches.
“We are at the edges of the airport and are working to secure it now,” the Arab coalition said in a statement to Reuters. “Operational priority is to avoid civilian casualties, maintain the flow of humanitarian aid, and allow for the UN to press the Houthis to evacuate the city.”
Yemeni forces tweeted that they had also seized the airport’s southern entrance and were advancing down a main road toward the Hodeidah seaport.
At least 70 Houthis were killed on Friday in the ongoing fighting, reported Sky News.
Apache attack helicopters hovered over the Manzar neighborhood, firing at Houthi snipers and fighters in schools and other buildings, said another resident, who asked not to be identified.
Houthi forces had entered homes overlooking the main road to go onto the roofs. Dozens of Manzar residents fled to the city center on motorcycles, the resident said.
Streets elsewhere in the city were empty despite the Eid holiday marking the end of the Ramadan fast.
The airport has been defunct since 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa.
