Date: Jun 13, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Arab-led forces begin assault on Hudaida Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: An Arab-led coalition backing Yemen's exiled government began an assault Wednesday morning on Yemen's port city of Hudaida, a crucial battle in the 3-year-old conflict that aid agencies warned could push the Arab world's poorest country into further chaos. Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies for years have held the Red Sea port, crucial to food supplies in a nation on the brink of famine after years of war. The battle for Hudaida, if the Houthis don't withdraw, also may mark the first major street-to-street urban fighting for the Arab-led coalition, which can be deadly for both combatants and civilians alike. Before dawn Wednesday, convoys of vehicles appeared to be heading toward the rebel-held city, according to videos posted on social media. The sound of heavy, sustained gunfire clearly could be heard in the background. Saudi-owned satellite news channels and later state media announced the battle had begun, citing military sources. Houthi media did not immediately report the attack. Yemen's exiled government "has exhausted all peaceful and political means to remove the Houthi militia from the port of Hudaida," it said in a statement. "Liberation of the port of Hudaida is a milestone in our struggle to regain Yemen from the militias." Forces loyal to Yemen's exiled government and irregular fighters led by Emirati troops had neared Hudaida in recent days. The port is some 150 kilometers southwest of Sanaa, Yemen's capital held by the Houthis since they swept into the city in September 2014. The Arab-led coalition entered the war in March 2015 and has received logistical support from the U.S. Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash earlier told French newspaper Le Figaro the deadline for a withdrawal from Hudaida by the Houthis expired early Wednesday morning. The United Nations and other aid groups already had pulled their international staff from Hudaida ahead of the rumored assault. Over 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen's civil war, which has displaced 2 million more and helped spawn a cholera epidemic. The Arab-led coalition has been criticized for its airstrikes killing civilians. Meanwhile, the U.N. and Western nations say Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons from assault rifles up to the ballistic missiles they have fired deep into Saudi Arabia, including at the capital, Riyadh. Before the war, over 70 percent of Yemen's food and fuel imports came through Hudaida, accounting for over 40 percent of the nation's customs income. The port remains crucial for incoming aid, food and medicine for a nation driven to the brink of famine by the conflict and an Arab-led blockade. An Arab-led airstrike in 2015 destroyed cranes at Hudaida. The United Nations in January shipped in mobile cranes to help unload ships there. The U.N. says some 600,000 people live in and around Hudaida, and "as many as 250,000 people may lose everything - even their lives" in the assault. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said that U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths was in "intense negotiations" in an attempt to avoid a military confrontation. However, Griffiths' recent appointment as envoy and his push for new negotiations may have encouraged the Arab-led coalition to strengthen its hand ahead of any peace talks with the Houthis.