Yemen’s Al-Hudeidah Port 'still operational': UN agency

The Al-Hudeidah seaport remains operational despite the ongoing conflict in Yemen, the UN World Food Program (WFP) has said.

Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition recently launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Yemen's western Al-Hudeidah province -- and its strategic seaport -- from Houthi rebels.

"As the fighting around Al-Hudeidah intensifies, my main concern is… for the children, women and men of Yemen," WFP Executive Director David Paisley said in a statement issued late Thursday.

"Innocent people are suffering amid some of the most difficult conditions imaginable," he added.

"Despite the conflict, the port of Al-Hudeidah, which is the critical access point for the delivery of life-saving assistance to the people of Yemen, is still operational and WFP staff are still distributing food to the Yemeni people," Paisley said.

He went on to point out that some 19 million people -- roughly 70 percent of Yemen's population -- rely on commercial and humanitarian shipments entering the country through Al-Hudeidah.

Therefore, he asserted, "it is vital that the port and other civilian infrastructure remain operational".

The UN official further called on Yemen's warring camps "to meet their obligations to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and… respect international humanitarian law".

Yemen has been wracked by chaos and violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its allies -- who accuse the Houthis of serving as an Iranian proxy force -- launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The following year, UN-sponsored peace talks held in Kuwait failed to produce any tangible breakthroughs.

The ongoing violence has devastated basic services, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation in Yemen as one of "the world's worst humanitarian disasters in modern times".