More than 70 Houthi rebels killed in fighting since peace talks postponed

Renewed military advances have forced families to flee their homes

Yemeni government forces take part in military operations on Houthi positions in the port province of Hodeidah. EPA

Seventy-three Houthi rebels were killed in clashes in Yemen after the UN-brokered peace talks were postponed on Saturday.

Hospital sources said 11 soldiers were also killed on Sunday, around the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

Renewed military advances late on Saturday saw Yemen's pro-government forces locked in battle with Houthi militias in and around the city.

Fierce clashes between the two reportedly took place on the routes known as Kilo 10 and Kilo 16, when coalition strikes targeted Houthi positions near the Nana juice factory and the Red Sea Mills.

Yemeni government forces in Hodeidah. Coalition forces have resumed airstrikes on the port after a two-month ceasefire. EPA

North of Hodeidah, the Al Meleh mountain - used by the Houthis as an arms and ammunition depot - also came under fire, a military source in the Al Amalikah brigades told The National.

"Other raids targeted gatherings of Houthi fighters in Al Gabana military base to the north of the port city, while a raid targeted a Houthi patrol in Al Katheeb area north-west of Al Hodeidah," he said.

Dozens of rebel fighters were killed or injured.

Residents of Hodeidah told The National they saw Houthi vehicles transferring dead and injured fighters to the city's Al Thawrah public hospital and other medical centres. According to residents, all public hospitals and clinics were put on alert and ordered to be equipped for a large number of incoming casualties.

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Groups affiliated with the Al Amalikah brigades have been securing the removal of families from the affected areas, Aseel Al Sakladi, director of Al Amalikah media centre, said.

Sami Bari, a media activist from the district of Al Marawyah, east of Hodeidah, said that Houthi fighters told residents of Al Marawyah to evacuate their homes and were using their residences as military bases.

Amid the chaos of war, a staff member of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) was recently abducted. Saba Al Moalimi told The National the UN had been working to ensure the employee's safe return, but declined to give further details.

In the south of the country on Sunday, Yemeni tribal leaders said a suspected US drone strike killed four alleged Al Qaeda militants, including a field leader.

The men said the operatives were killed when an unmanned aircraft targeted a group of Al Qaeda members in the district of Ahwar, one of the group's strongholds in the southern Abyan province.

We are very concerned for the safety of one of our Yemeni national staff members, whom we understand was abducted by persons unknown.

IOM is working with authorities in Sanaa and UN Yemen to secure his release. We strongly appeal to those responsible to set him free immediately.

— IOM - UN Migration 🇺🇳 (@UNmigration) September 8, 2018

Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi, a forum hosted by the UAE Journalists Association presented a list of findings by experts and representatives of civil community organisations on the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

The symposium was organised in response to a UN report suggesting war crimes may have been committed by all parties in Yemen.

The report, said the team of experts, aimed to "contribute to [the] alleviation and the ending of the Yemeni civilians’ suffering, while holding those responsible accountable for their violations, regardless of their political and sectarian agendas, and the interests of individual countries and regional and international powers".

The participants urged the UN to rectify a number of alleged mistakes found in the report, as well as their research methodology, including "ambiguous and questionable" testimonies.

The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash in August said the UN report showed a need to "answer its merits and review what it says about the horrors of Houthi criminality on civilian population".