Civilians in the Yemeni city of Hodeidah are dodging airstrikes in an attempt to flee advancing Arab coalition forces, residents have told The Independent.

Fierce fighting has broken out over the strategic city’s airport, with Apache helicopters aiming at the rebel Houthi snipers perched on the roofs of homes, schools and mosques in the adjacent neighbourhood of Manzar.

Airstrikes have pounded southern neighbourhoods and are deafening even from afar, resident Ahmed Abdullah Nasser said.

“People are trying to leave with rockets and mortars over their heads,” a local aid worker, who wished not to use her name, said on Monday.

Footage shows gunfire at Yemeni port town Hodeidah

“Other people are besieged in their homes. They don’t know if their family members managed to escape or who survived.

“It’s hot and there is no water and we are scared,” she added. “Please stop what is happening.”

At least 280 people are believed to have been killed in the six days since the Arab coalition, which fights on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government, launched Operation Golden Victory to reclaim the port city.

Aid organisations have been unable to reach southern neighbourhoods with food and chlorine tablets for purifying water.

There are no reliable figures for how many of the city’s 600,000 residents have been displaced from their homes, but the aid worker estimated at least 1,000 had tried to leave for the nearby village of Marawiah.

“The situation is becoming more tense and feels like conflict getting closer to the city,” said Islamic Relief’s deputy country director for Yemen, Salem Jaffer Baobaid.

“Travel is becoming much more limited. Lots of displaced people are arriving in the city; many going to live with families, or staying in schools and reception centres or being hosted by generous strangers.”

The battle for Hodeidah is expected to be the biggest to date in Yemen’s complex civil war.

Its residents have already endured three years of airstrikes and a Saudi-led blockade on the port, which has exacerbated a nationwide hunger crisis and created a cholera epidemic.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

The port city has been under the control of Houthi rebels since 2015, and has become the country’s aid lifeline, through which more than 70 per cent of its food, aid, fuel and commercial imports flow.

Two-thirds of the population are now reliant on aid which passes through Hodeidah’s port to survive – leading the UN and aid agencies to warn that any damage to it could widen Yemen’s already dire humanitarian crisis.

The coalition offensive could endanger millions of civilians, the UN’s human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said on Monday.

“I emphasise my grave worry regarding the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition’s ongoing attacks in Hodeidah which could result in enormous civilian casualties and have a disastrous impact on life-saving humanitarian aid to millions of people which comes through the port,” he said at the opening of a three-week session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Also on Monday, the UAE’s foreign minister, Anwar Gargash, told reporters in Abu Dhabi the coalition’s three priorities in the fight are to protect civilians, the flow of aid and “force movement to a political process” with the Houthis.

Footage shows gunfire at Yemeni port town Hodeidah

“We will not allow this war to last for another two-three years … Three years of war is enough. It is time for a political process. The Houthis need to be part of that process; but you can’t be 3 per cent of the population, yet claim through the barrel of a gun to own 50 per cent of the country,” he said in remarks on Twitter.

The coalition has released a five-point humanitarian action plan to assist civilians displaced or otherwise affected by the fighting, although aid groups allege coalition offensives in the past have not taken adequate precautions to avoid loss of civilian life.

It is also feared the Houthis will not give up the heavily-mined city easily.