Updated

Yemeni officials say foreign humanitarian workers with the U.N. and other international organizations have left the port city of Hodeida because of intensified fighting there.

The officials said Friday that Yemen's Shite rebels stepped up fighting with forces loyal to the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi along the coast of Hodeida and western Yemen.

The officials say local employees with the U.N. and other organizations are now doing the humanitarian work in Hodeida. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

A Saudi-led coalition backing Hadi has been at war with Yemen's Iran-backed rebels, known as Houthis, since March 2015.

Rebel-held Hodeida is a lifeline for most of Yemen's population and has long been blockaded by the coalition.