Yemeni government forces retake Mocha from Houthis
The recapture follows heavy fighting and comes hours after a separate government offensive announced on Sanaa, with Saudi-led coalition air and naval power backing both pushes toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Published
Yemen's internationally recognized government forces have retaken the Red Sea port of Mocha from the Iran-backed Houthis after heavy fighting, moving closer to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Saudi-led coalition is providing air and naval support, with about 100 fighter jets involved.
The advance follows the coalition's decision to back government forces near Dhubab after earlier ground gains there. Government forces have since claimed repeated gains around the strait while coalition jets strike Houthi positions. Yemen's armed forces separately announced an offensive on Sanaa, hours before the Mocha recapture was confirmed.
The fighting has already reached shipping lanes. A tanker reported multiple explosions 60 nautical miles south of Al Mukha, in waters the Houthis have held since early September. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency has recorded seven vessel strikes near the Strait of Hormuz since September 28, with tanker traffic there running at about two vessels a day, against a pre-conflict average of 125. Washington is reinforcing forces near the strait as that traffic has nearly stopped.
The coalition has intercepted three Houthi missiles aimed at Khamis Mushait, with fragments causing limited damage and no casualties. No Saudi official or witness has confirmed three separate operations the Houthis say they carried out inside Saudi Arabia. A cabinet meeting on Iran took place days after President Trump rejected a ceasefire offer and after a tanker strike that Iran blames on UAE-linked vessels.
Mocha's recapture is the first real reversal of the Houthi advance that had consolidated control over Bab el-Mandeb since early September. With coalition air and naval power now backing government pushes on two fronts, toward Sanaa and toward Hodeida, the question is whether this loosens the Houthis' grip on the strait or simply opens another front in a conflict that has so far left Saudi export flows intact despite repeated strikes and intercepts. A sustained advance toward Hodeida and the capital would be the first sign that the shipping and energy risk premium built up since September could start to unwind rather than persist.