Local Editor
Renewed violence in Yemen's vital port city of Hodeida has left 10 fighters dead, despite a UN push for peace talks, an official and medical sources told AFP on Saturday.
An official with pro-regime forces said fighting erupted in the east and south of the Red Sea city on Friday, while Houthi revolutionaries on their television channel referred to an exchange of tank fire.
Intermittent clashes continued on Saturday, Hodeida residents told AFP by phone.
The violence follows a visit to the city last month by UN envoy Martin Griffiths to press for talks aimed at ending the war which has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Hodeida port is held by the Houthis and serves as the entry point for nearly all of the country's imports and humanitarian aid.
An Arab coalition supporting the resigned regime of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi launched an assault to take Hodeida in June, but its forces had largely suspended the offensive amid intense diplomatic efforts.
Sporadic clashes have however continued since a fragile truce began on November 13.
Two Hadi forces were killed, according to a medical source at a hospital in an area held by the loyalists.
In retaliation to the ongoing Saudi bombardment, the Houthis launched a projectile which hit a house in the kingdom.
Two people were injured in the strike in Samtah governorate, Saudi state news agency SPA reported. It is the first confirmation by Riyadh of such a rocket attack since September.
The escalation comes just days ahead of proposed peace talks hosted by Sweden, which have been backed by both the coalition and rebels.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, however, has played down the early December schedule and said he hoped talks would start "this year".
"But, as you know, there have been some setbacks," he said on Thursday.
Previous talks planned for September in Geneva failed to get underway as the Houthi delegation were not guaranteed safe return to the Yemeni capital Sana’a by the United Nations.
The national delegates were left stranded in Oman for three months in 2016, after negotiations hosted by Kuwait collapsed after 108 days.
If conditions are met, all sides have in principle agreed to attend the talks in Sweden, including the resigned Hadi regime.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
