SANAA, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni rival forces have deployed thousands of fighters in and around the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah ahead of a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks, local sources said on Thursday.
The peace talks is proposed to take place within a month.
Thousands of Iranian-allied Shiite Houthi armed rebels have been spreading among neighborhoods of Hodeidah, which is under their control, digging trenches along the main streets and stationing on rooftops of tall buildings, according to residents.
Residents told Xinhua that warships, armoured vehicles and tanks of Yemeni government troops backed by the Saudi-led coalition have been deployed to the southern edges of the port city. The soldiers have camped in separate barracks and spread in military posts between farms.
The rival military movements on the ground signal preparation for a major onslaught that could fail the proposed UN-mediated peace negotiations.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said in a statement published by his group-controlled Saba news agency on Thursday that his group has sent "thousands of fighters to Hodeidah in anticipation of any military assault."
"We affirmed our military readiness to confront any military escalation in Hodeidah," Abdulsalam was quoted by Saba as saying.
Abdulsalam's remarks came a day after pro-government reports that the government has massed thousands of troops to pressure the Iran-backed rebels to return to the UN-brokered peace talks.
The eastern entrance of Hodeidah city, Kilo 16 highway, linking the port city with the capital Sanaa, has been the scene of daily clashes between the rival forces.
The city's port is the main entry of the country's 70 percent of imports and aid.
United Nations aid groups have said the country is on the brink of mass famine, warning against any military escalation near the Red Sea port.
On Wednesday, the government and rebels voiced readiness to end fighting and engage in a UN-backed political compromise, just hours after the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, welcomed the calls by the United States and Britain for the immediate resumption of the Yemeni political process to reach a cessation of hostilities, now in its fourth year.
"We remain committed to bringing the Yemeni parties to the negotiation table within a month," Griffiths said in a statement on Wednesday.
Previous UN-hosted peace talks in Geneva collapsed on Sept. 8, after the Houthi rebels refused to attend, claiming that the UN did not guarantee the safe return of the Houthi delegation.
Other two previous peace talks in Switzerland and Kuwait in 2016 also collapsed.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, and displaced 3 million others, according to available UN statistics.
Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including Hodeidah and the capital Sanaa.
