UK calls emergency UN meeting as UAE claims Hodeidah offensive has reached area within five miles of airport

Forces loyal to the Yemeni government, backed by Saudi and UAE airstrikes, claimed on Thursday to have breached the first line of defences of Houthi rebels defending the strategic port of Hodeidah.

The UAE claimed its operation – dubbed Golden Victory – had reached an area within five miles of the airport, amid reports of terrified civilians trying to flee the city.

The Hodeidah deep sea port on the Red Sea is the base from which badly needed food, water and medicine is distributed to more than 8 million Yemenis, and all sides fear the fighting may result in the destruction of the port’s infrastructure, either by Houthi mines or airstrikes directed by the UAE.

Britain has called an emergency closed-doors meeting of the UN security council to discuss the offensive, and is facing calls from Russia and some EU countries to agree a statement condemning the attack on the port.

The Russian foreign ministry said an assault on the port would be a disaster for Yemen, and would halt the peace process designed to end the three-year civil war.

REU: Civilians flee bombardment as Arab states pound Yemen port

ADEN (Reuters) – Arab warplanes and warships pounded Houthi positions in Yemen’s Hodeidah for a second day on Thursday, as a Saudi-led alliance tried to seize the main port in the largest battle of a war that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations is struggling to avert disruption to the port, the main lifeline for food aid to a country where 8.4 million people are on the verge of starvation in what potentially would be the world’s worst famine for generations.

The Arab coalition also struck the main road linking Hodeidah to the capital Sanaa to block reinforcements, residents and anti-Houthi Yemeni military officials said.

The Iran-aligned Houthis control the capital and most of Yemen’s populated areas. The Arab states have been fighting since 2015 to unseat them, restore an exiled Saudi-backed government and halt what they see as Iranian expansionism.

“People are scared. The warships are terrifying and warplanes are flying overhead all the time,” university student Amina, 22, who lives near the port, told Reuters by telephone.

“People are fleeing the city to the countryside, but for those with no relatives there or money, there is no escape.”…………..Western countries have quietly backed the Arab coalition, but the threat of humanitarian catastrophe on an historic scale could unravel that support. The United Nations says 22 million Yemenis need humanitarian aid.

The number at risk of starvation could more than double to more than 18 million by year end, unless the situation improves.

BBC: Syria war: OPCW says Sarin was used in March 2017 attack

The global chemical weapons watchdog says the nerve agent Sarin and chlorine are very likely to have been used in attacks on a Syrian village last year.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concluded Sarin was used as a weapon in the south of rebel-held Latamina on 24 March 2017, and chlorine at its hospital the next day.

It did not assign blame for the incidents, in line with its mandate.

But activists said at the time the area was under attack by government forces.

The government has repeatedly denied ever using chemical weapons.

However, a joint UN-OPCW mission that recently ended said it was confident that government forces used Sarin in an attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun just days after the incidents in nearby Latamina.

REU: Israel has bombed Iranian-backed militias in Syria: Netanyahu

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has attacked Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militias in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, casting such actions as potentially helping to stem a Syrian Sunni Muslim refugee exodus to Europe.

Israeli officials have previously disclosed scores of air strikes within Syria to prevent suspected arms transfers to Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hezbollah guerrillas or Iranian military deployments.

But they have rarely given detail on the operations, or described non-Lebanese militiamen as having been targeted…………“Obviously we are not going to let them do it. We’ll fight them. By preventing that – and we have bombed the bases of this, these Shi’ite militias – by preventing that, we are also offering, helping the security of your countries, the security of the world.” ………………..Netanyahu did not elaborate. About half Syria’s pre-war 22 million population has been displaced by the fighting, with hundreds of thousands of refugees making it to Europe.

Syria’s population is mostly Sunni Muslim. President Bashar al-Assad is from the Alawite religious minority, often considered an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.

REU: Australia punished soldiers over Nazi flag incident in Afghanistan: PM

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian soldiers who flew a Nazi swastika flag over their fighting vehicle in Afghanistan more than a decade ago were “wrong” and punished at the time, Australia’s prime minister said on Thursday, after a picture of the incident emerged.

The flag was “briefly raised” above the vehicle in Afghanistan in 2007, Australia’s defense department said in a statement. The flag was clearly visible flying over the bonnet of a jeep in a photo published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

“The flag obviously was removed and the personnel involved were disciplined,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in the Tasmanian state capital of Hobart, without specifying their punishment.

“It was absolutely wrong and their commanders took action at the time,” he said.

Australia, a staunch U.S. ally, has had troops in Afghanistan for 17 years fighting against the Taliban and other Islamist militants.

Their behavior between 2005 and 2016, including accusations that they used illegal force and showed a disregard for human life during missions, is being investigated by defense authorities.

NYT: Afghan Official Says Insurgents Burned DownClinic