Iran-backed Houthi forces have taken control of Yemen’s Red Sea city of Mocha on Thursday, September 10, moving closer to the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to four Yemeni government military sources cited by Reuters.
Witnesses told AFP they saw Houthi fighters enter the city while chanting “Death to America, death to Israel”. Arab media reports said Yemeni government forces withdrew from Mocha on Thursday morning as the Houthis advanced. Photos and videos circulating online also appeared to show Houthi fighters inside the city.
Mocha is less than 50 miles from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key maritime passage linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Its reported capture gives the Houthis greater leverage over the approaches to the strategic waterway.
Houthis report 40 Saudi strikes across Yemen
The Houthi-run Saba news agency said Saudi warplanes carried out around 40 strikes on Taiz, Hodeida, Al-Jawf and Marib. Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm the attacks, and the claims could not be independently verified.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Wednesday, September 9, that Saudi aircraft had carried out 54 strikes over 12 hours in several parts of Yemen, including Jawf, Marib, Saada, Taiz and Hodeidah. He warned that the attacks would “not go unanswered and unpunished”.
The reported bombardment followed Houthi attacks on southern Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition said at least 73 people were wounded in attacks on four southern cities.
The Houthis said they had targeted an airbase in Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby areas. Saudi civil defence authorities subsequently issued four emergency alerts in the city within 24 hours before announcing an all-clear on Thursday.
The latest clashes have raised concerns about a return to wider conflict after a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted years of fighting in Yemen.
Red Sea security concerns
The Houthi takeover could increase pressure on shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb, a vital route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
The development comes as the wider regional conflict has also disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, another major energy chokepoint. Preliminary ship-tracking data showed about 28 commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb on Wednesday, broadly in line with the recent average.
Iran faces pressure over Houthi attacks
Saudi Arabia has sought international pressure on Tehran over the Houthi attacks. Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources cited by Reuters said Pakistan had conveyed a Saudi warning to Iran urging Tehran to rein in the group.
A senior Iranian official said Tehran does not control the Houthis. However, two Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran had instructed the group to attack Saudi Arabia and promised additional funding and weapons. They also said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders had travelled to Yemen to help coordinate the attacks.
The allegations have not been independently verified.
A former Yemeni military official told i24NEWS that government claims of gains in desert areas were masking setbacks along the coastline. He said greater Saudi involvement and activation of the Mecca Accord, potentially involving Turkey and Pakistan, would be needed to change the course of the fighting.
