Houthi rebels have seized Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Mocha, according to Houthi and Yemeni officials, in a major advance that brings the Iran-backed group closer to the Bab el-Mandeb strait and threatens a vital international shipping route.
The takeover was confirmed to the Associated Press by Ahmed Baash, a commander with the government-aligned National Resistance Forces, and Hazam al-Assad, a member of the Houthi political bureau. Yemeni government sources also said the militants had advanced south along the coast and launched attacks towards the strategic Hanish Islands.
Mocha lies about 80 kilometres from Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow waterway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. The passage carries roughly 12 per cent of the world’s oil and other goods, making control of the surrounding coastline particularly significant for global trade.
The city had been held by forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government. Its capture is the Houthis’ biggest territorial gain since a truce was agreed in 2022, according to the Associated Press, and has raised fears that the fragile pause in Yemen’s civil war could collapse.
Residents told the news agency that Houthi fighters had spread across the city, closing roads from the western coast and forcing shops to shut. Three doctors said they fled a hospital after it was taken over, while other residents were reported to be moving south towards government-held Aden.
The advance followed fighting in western Taiz province, where the Houthis seized the al-Shaqira area, an important supply route linking Taiz with the coast. Yemeni government forces responded with air strikes against Houthi reinforcements west of Taiz, while clashes continued near the southern approaches to the port of Hodeida.
The Houthis took Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led intervention the following year. The latest offensive has intensified concerns over a return to full-scale conflict and the possibility of further disruption to shipping through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb.
