Saudi-led strikes on Yemen port, fears for civilians: UN

Geneva: The Saudi-led coalition has intensified air strikes on the Yemen port of Hodeidah, potentially trapping civilians and endangering a humanitarian operation to import vital supplies, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.

Yemeni government forces backed by Gulf Arab troops have secured the Red Sea coast city of al-Mokha, held by Iran-allied Houthi fighters for two years, the United Arab Emirates news agency WAM reported on Tuesday, in a push that paves the way for an advance on the country`s main port city of Hodeidah.

"Civilians were trapped during the fighting (in al-Mokha), there are real fears the situation will repeat itself in the port of Hodeidah where air strikes are apparently already intensifying," Rupert Colville, UN human rights spokesman, told a Geneva news briefing.