Yemeni government threatens military offensive on Hodeida strategic port

The Yemeni government threatened Friday in Sweden, on the sidelines of rare consultations with the rebels, to launch a military offensive to free the port of Hodeida, the main point of entry for humanitarian aid in Yemen, an ultimatum immediately rejected by the rebels Houthis.

The belligerents - the Saudi-backed government and Iran-backed rebels - are meeting for the first time since 2016. The goal of the UN, at the initiative of these contacts, is to renew the dialogue to end a conflict that has left at least 10,000 people dead since 2014 and hurled 14 million people to the brink of starvation.

There are officially no prerequisites for these consultations facilitated by the signing this week of an agreement on the exchange of thousands of prisoners. But both sides threaten to break the dialogue if his demands are not satisfied.

In particular, the government demands the total withdrawal of the rebels from the strategic port of Hodeida (West), which was captured in 2014 and accuses the rebels of using weapons to import weapons.