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Yemen: Coalition Calls For UN Supervision over Hodeidah Port | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Boats are pictured at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen February 5, 2017. Reuters/Abduljabbar Zeyad


Riyadh, Taiz- The Coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen asked Sunday the United Nations to place the Yemeni western Hodeidah port under its direct supervision in order to facilitate the flow of humanitarian supplies to the Yemeni people and to end the use of the port for gunrunning and human trafficking.

In a statement issued Sunday, the Coalition forces denied, for the second time, being involved in an attack on a refugee boat that killed 42 Somalis out of the 140 refugees who were on board.

The refugees had departed from the western port city of Hodeidah en route to Sudan when their boat came under fire.

“We can confirm the coalition was not responsible for any attack on a refugee boat on Friday… and on that day, there was no coalition warplanes overflying the area where the attack on the boat took place,” the Coalition statement said.

AFP quoted medical sources as saying that the wounds on the Somali bodies show that the attack was conducted using light weapons.

Separately, in the Nahm and Mokha governorates, fierce clashes erupted on Sunday as the Yemeni army completely liberated al-Dhaboo’a area, thanks to the help of Coalition warplanes. The latest advance would help the Yemeni army move closer to the Arhab directorate, overlooking the capital’s airport.

Meanwhile, Saudi security forces foiled on Sunday several attempts to plant land mines, smuggle arms, ammunition and more than half a kilo of Hashish, the Saudi Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

According to the ministry, three smugglers were killed and two others were injured during the operation, while 30 culprits were arrested between March 10 and 18.

A spokesperson at the ministry, Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said a unit of the guards at the southern borders had captured 1265 infiltrators, including 847 Yemenis, 309 Ethiopians and 16 Somalis.