Yemen government forces say they struck Houthis in Red Sea city
TLE DESK: Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces said on Saturday they had launched strikes against Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in the strategic Red Sea city of Mocha, as renewed fighting threatens to deepen the country’s long-running civil war.
The government forces said they had destroyed Houthi vehicles and weapons and killed fighters near the port of Mocha.
“The armed forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia backed by the Iranian regime,” the government news agency Saba reported.
Government forces spokesman Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said strikes had also targeted Houthi vehicles and fighters along the Mocha-Dhubab road, about 11 kilometres from the city, according to Saba.
Nazili said on Friday that government forces had begun shelling areas of Mocha and urged civilians to avoid the Taiz-Mocha and Mocha-Dhubab roads.
Houthis tighten grip on Red Sea coast
The Houthis seized control of Mocha on Thursday after a week-long offensive that drove thousands of civilians towards Aden, where Yemen’s internationally recognised government is based.
The capture strengthens the group’s position along the Red Sea and gives it greater leverage near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategically important maritime route and a key artery for Saudi oil exports.
The development comes as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed amid the ongoing US-Iran war, adding to concerns over the security of vital global energy routes.
Houthi media reported on Friday that two Saudi strikes had hit Mocha airport, while a local official said the city’s seaport had been struck by six missiles of unknown origin.
The latest offensive has killed more than 500 people, according to sources on both sides, while around 46,000 people have been displaced, the UN migration agency said on Friday.
Renewed civil war
The fighting is part of a renewed escalation in Yemen’s civil war, which began after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014.
The Iran-aligned group has since controlled large parts of northern and western Yemen, while the internationally recognised government and allied forces have retained influence over other areas.
The latest fighting around Mocha risks further destabilising a region already under pressure from the wider US-Iran conflict and growing concerns over maritime security in the Red Sea.
