PORT LIFELINE
Tens of thousands have died in the war which pits the Iran-aligned Houthi movement against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government of Abd-Rabu Mansour Hadi. He was ousted from power in 2014, and the Sunni Muslim coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened in 2015 to try to reinstate him.
The United Nations is trying to implement a ceasefire and troop withdrawal agreement in the port city of Hodeidah, the main entry point for most of Yemen's imports and aid.
A deal was reached in U.N.-sponsored talks in Sweden last month to avert a full-scale assault on the port, in the first significant breakthrough in peace efforts in five years.
The truce has largely held in Hodeidah, which is controlled by the Houthis with thousands of coalition-backed forces massed on the outskirts. But the withdrawal of forces by both sides has stalled over disagreements over who would control the Red Sea city.
Western nations, including some which supply the coalition with arms and intelligence, have pressed Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to end the conflict that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
The conflict is largely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Muslim Iran. The Houthis deny receiving any help from Iran and say their revolution is against corruption.
