ADEN — Yemeni forces thwarted three Houthi attempts to infiltrate their posts in Al-Tabab Al-Bayd, Al-Majaza and Al-Hashishma that overlook the center of Baqim District in Saada.

Brig. Gen. Saleh Qroush, the commander of the fifth battalion of the border guards, said violent clashes between his battalion and the Houthis killed dozens of rebels and injured others, adding that the Houthis fled as a result.

He added that the coalition in support of legitimacy targeted Houthi gatherings near Baqim District with its artillery and inflicted heavy losses on them.
The alliance led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates launched the offensive on the heavily defended Red Sea city of Hodeidah on June 12 in the largest battle of the three-year war.

The Arab states pledged a swift operation to take over Hodeidah's air and sea ports, without entering the city center, seeking to minimize civilian casualties and avoid disruption of the port, a lifeline for millions in the impoverished state where 8.4 million are believed to be on the verge of starvation.

But they have made little progress in the campaign which Riyadh and Abu Dhabi say aims to cut off the Houthis' main supply line and force the group to the negotiating table.

The coalition announced on June 20 that it had seized Hodeidah airport, but local military and aid sources told Reuters that neither side has complete control of the airport and its surrounding area, which spreads over 20 km (12 miles).

A military source said the Houthis hold the northern outskirts of the area while coalition-backed forces are trying to maintain their positions along the southern edges.

Coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Malki reiterated that the airport was now under the control of the alliance although Houthi fighters continued to launch "indirect fire" from surrounding areas into the airport.

"The coalition is in full control of the airport. There are no Houthi fighters within the airport perimeter," he told Reuters on Monday.

UN special envoy Martin Griffiths has been shuttling between the warring parties to avert an all-out assault on Hodeidah.

He held a second round of talks with the Houthis in Sanaa last week and is expected to do the same with President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi, currently based in his government's temporary headquarters in the southern city of Aden.

The Houthis have offered to hand over management of the port to the United Nations as part of an overall ceasefire in Hodeidah province, according to the United Nations, but the coalition has said that the Houthis must quit the western coast.

The Arab states accuse the Houthis of using the port to smuggle Iranian-made weapons, including missiles that have targeted Saudi cities. Tehran and the group deny the accusations. — Agencies