WFP says high levels of insecurity at Yemen's Hodeidah port restricting supplies

Operations at Yemen's lifeline port of Hodeidah have nearly halved in two weeks, as high levels of insecurity in the flashpoint Houthi-held city deter shipping companies, the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.

As 70 per cent of imports come in through the vital port, a decrease in the arrival of wheat and other supplies would impact food stocks in the country where 14 million people are facing possible starvation, it said.

"Shipping companies appear to be reluctant to call to Hodeidah port because of the high levels of insecurity in the city," WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel told a news briefing.