UN truce efforts fizzle

♦ Arab aircraft hammer Huthis around airport

♦ Rebels must withdraw  from Hodeida: UAE

UN ceasefire efforts in Yemen appeared to have fizzled yesterday, raising fears for civilians as Saudi-backed pro-government forces press an offensive to retake the key rebel-held port city of Hodeida.

After two days of talks in the capital Sanaa, UN envoy Martin Griffiths was due to brief the Security Council later yesterday on his efforts to end the crisis over Hodeida, a key entry point for desperately-needed aid in a country on the brink of famine.

But the Iran-backed Huthi rebels said the talks had failed, and the head of their unofficial government rejected a ceasefire under current conditions after meeting Griffiths on Sunday.

Abdulaziz Saleh bin Habtoor accused Saudi-led forces of "escalating their attacks on the western coast when they felt there were serious moves towards a solution".

The Saudi and Emirati-backed assault has seen thousands of families displaced as loyalist forces battle towards the Red Sea port city.

The Huthis, Zaidi Shia tribes linked to Iran, seized control of the area along with the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen in 2014, sparking an intervention by a Saudi-led alliance the following year.

Arab coalition aircraft bombarded Huthi fighters holed up at the airport of Hodeida yesterday.

Apache helicopter gunships fired at Huthi snipers and other fighters positioned on the rooftops of schools and homes in the Manzar neighbourhood abutting the airport compound, according to local residents.

Huthi forces had blocked roads to the airport, they said.

The UAE, a key player in the coalition battling Huthi rebels in Yemen, yesterday warned the insurgents to withdraw unconditionally from the flashpoint port city of Hodeida, reported AFP.

"There can be no conditions in any offers to withdraw," the United Arab Emirates' minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash told a press conference in Dubai.

"If the rebels wanted to set conditions, they should have thought of that a year ago... Now is not the time to negotiate."

Meanwhile, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told Qatar's ruler yesterday that a military approach in Yemen would fail, Iranian state TV reported.

"The crisis in Yemen should be resolved through political channels ... a military approach will fail ... Yemen's stability and security is important for the Middle East," state TV reported Rouhani telling Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in a phone call.

The war for control of the Arab world's poorest country has killed at least 10,000 people and triggered what the UN says is the world's largest single humanitarian crisis. Some 22 million people need aid, while 8.4 million are on the brink of starvation.

More than 70 percent of Yemen's imports flow through Hodeida.

Yemen's military, backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, last week launched a major offensive aimed at retaking Hodeida, home to 600,000 civilians.