Saudi-led coalition resumes airstrikes on Hodeida

The airstrikes come after the rebel Houthis attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Wednesday and reportedly launched a drone attack against the Abu Dhabi international airport on Thursday.

Hodeida's residents said the Saudi coalition strikes began after midnight on Friday, striking a Houthi military police camp and a plastics factory in the north of the city.

On Thursday, oil prices rose to a 10-day high after Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company announced it was temporarily halting crude shipments in response to the attack on two oil tankers.

The Saudi coalition said the Houthis "had almost caused an environmental disaster", according to the state-run al-Ekhbariya TV channel.

The recent flurry of skirmishes comes on the heels of a major pro-government offensive launched by the Saudi-led coalition last month to retake Yemen's Hodeida port, through which nearly three quarters of Yemen's imports flow.

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Aid groups operating in Yemen have warned of catastrophic consequences of any further escalation of violence around the port city.

Pro-government forces paused their offensive on Hodeida port earlier this month in a bid they say was to give peace efforts a chance. 

But UAE foreign affairs minister Anwar Gargash said Abu Dhabi, whose forces have been spearheading the Hodeida assault, could "liberate" the port city if talks fail.

More than 13,000 people have died since the outbreak of war in Yemen in March 2015.

The conflict has pushed Yemen, long the most impoverished country in the Arab world, to the brink of famine.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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