Ansarullah: Saudi-Led Forces Bogged down Outside Hudaydah

TEHRAN (Defapress)- Yemen's Ansarullah movement dismissed reports that Saudi-led forces had seized the airport in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah, saying the aggressors were on the retreat on all front lines.

"A battle of attrition awaits the Saudi alliance which it cannot withstand. The Saudi coalition will not win the battle in Hudaydah," Ansarullah Spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam told Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen TV.

Abdulsalam warned that the Saudi-UAE offensive against the port city would undermine chances for a peaceful settlement of the Yemen crisis.

Militants and foreign mercenaries armed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE are attempting to capture the well-defended city and push Ansarullah out of their sole Red Sea port in the biggest battle of the war.

Ground troops including Emiratis, Sudanese and Yemenis have surrounded the main airport compound. Mohammed al-Sharif, deputy head of Yemen's civil aviation, announced that images circulated online about the airport had been taken in October 2016.

Ahmed Taresh, the head of Hudaydah airport, also denied the alleged capture, but said air raids conducted by the Saudi-led coalition have completely destroyed it.

The Saudi-backed forces have been surrounded in the al-Durayhimi Bayt al-Faqih district and tens of Saudi mercenaries killed by the Yemeni sniper fire in recent days, according to Reports on Sunday.

Informed sources have also stated that the invading forces had retreated from all fronts in Hudaydah's West.

A Yemeni military source said clashes have left 50 Saudi-backed forces dead and destroyed 13 of their armored vehicles in Southern Hudaydah.

Yemeni forces have also managed to confiscate a French or American ship off Hudaydah's coast, according to President of the Houthi Revolutionary Committee Mohammed Ali al-Houthi.

Le Figaro newspaper on Saturday reported that French special forces were present on the ground in Yemen supporting the operation.

Fighting on Saturday closed off the city's Northern exit, blocking a key route East to Sana'a and making it harder to transport goods from Yemen's biggest port to mountainous regions.

According to Ansarullah, British and French warships were also on standby on Yemen's Western coast to launch missile and aerial attacks on Hudaydah.

The UN World Food Program and the World Health Organization have both expressed concerns over the situation in the Yemeni port city.

More than 70 percent of Yemeni imports pass through Hudaydah's docks and the fighting has raised fears of a humanitarian catastrophe in a country already teetering on the brink of famine.

The UN envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths arrived in Sana'a on Saturday to hold emergency talks on Hudaydah.

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