ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mortar shells fired by Houthi rebels landed on government-controlled Red Sea Mills, a grain facility in the western port city of Hodeidah on Thursday, causing huge fire, a government official told Xinhua.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that a huge fire tore through the Red Sea Mills, a grain facility that holds thousands of tonnes of wheat in a government-controlled part of Hodeidah province.
Eyewitness confirmed a huge fire and plumes of smoke rising from the facility following the Houthi attack.
Yemen's Information Minister Muamar Eryani said in his official Twitter account that "the Iranian-backed Houthi militias shelled the Red Sea Mills that contain large amounts of wheat enough for around three million people, causing a huge fire."
The Yemeni minister said that the government forces supported by the Saudi-led coalition were attempting to extinguish the fire sparked inside the facility.
Last November, the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces managed to seize control over the Red Sea Mills compound following ferocious fighting with the Houthi rebels.
Hodeidah is the single most important point of entry for food and basic supplies to Yemen's northern provinces controlled by Houthis, including the capital Sanaa.
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in March 2015 to roll back Iran-allied Shiite Houthi rebels and reinstate the internationally-recognized President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
