Special to WorldTribune.com

Saudi-led coalition warships were said to be en route to the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah as coalition air strikes pounded Houthi rebel targets in the city.

The Red Sea port of Hodeidah has been a key transit point for aid to northern Yemen, dominated by the Iran-backed Houthis. The air strikes reportedly destroyed a number of cranes at the port, bringing operations there to a halt.

Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asseri, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the strikes on Hodeidah were directed not at the civilian port but at a base where the Houthis had deployed anti-ship weapons.

“There is a naval base inside the port. This is where we struck last night,” he said.

Asseri said the coalition had on Aug. 18 given permission to three aid vessels to travel to Hodeidah’s civilian port for humanitarian aid shipments.

The Saudi-led coalition along with local tribal militias have driven the Houthis from key positions in central Yemen in the past few weeks, building on victories that saw the rebels expelled from most of the south.

The Saudi-led coalition is fighting to restore President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in exile in Riyadh.

The United Nations reports that the conflict has cost the lives of over 3,700 people.

Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian crisis in the country, which suffered from severe poverty and food and water shortages before the conflict. The UN says about 80 percent of Yemen’s population is in need of humanitarian assistance.

  Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asseri, Hodeida, Houthi rebels, Saudi-lead coalition ships reported nearing Yemen port, WorldTribune.com