ADEN: The Saudi-led coalition has ordered a halt in its offensive against Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen’s main port city Hodeidah, three sources said on Thursday, in an apparent concession to Western pressure to end the war.

Key Western allies including the United States have been urgently calling for a ceasefire ahead of renewed UN-led peace efforts.

The nearly four-year-old conflict has killed more than 10,000 people and caused a humanitarian disaster that could potentially threaten millions of lives.

The Hodeidah offensive, which first began earlier this year and was re-launched last month after a pause of several months, aims to cut Houthi-ruled areas from their main supply route. The United Nations fears it could deprive millions of people already on the verge of starvation from access to food or medicine.

“The coalition has instructed forces on the ground to halt fighting inside Hodeidah,” said one pro-coalition military source. A source in another military force backed by the coalition confirmed the order.

A third non-military source with knowledge of the decision said the coalition was responding to international requests for a ceasefire to ensure the Houthis attend planned peace talks.

Hodeidah has become a key target for the Sunni Muslim coalition, trying to oust the Houthis since 2015 after they took control of the capital Sanaa and overthrew the government.

The Houthis now rule over most of Yemen’s population, while the exiled government controls a section of the south.

Western countries have provided arms and intelligence to the Arab states in the alliance, but have shown increasing reservations about the conflict since the murder of US-based Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul early last month.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2018