Yemeni fishermen face starvation

HODEIDA, Yemen: Ali Mohammed has been fishing off Hodeida since he was a child, but for the first time in 30 years, the Yemeni father of eight cannot feed his family.

He and his fellow fisherman are facing "tragedy", he said as he emptied his net at a harbour in the battle-scarred Red Sea city. "We are really scared to go out to sea, to the extent that we say goodbye to our children every time we leave the house because we do not know if we are coming back."

Hodeida, home to Yemen’s most vital port, has been the target of a fierce pro-government offensive to retake it from Huthi rebels who have held it since 2014. The fishing harbour where Mohammed landed his catch lies just one kilometre from the frontlines.