Houthi Rebels Seize Key Yemeni Port City of Mokha
Yemen's Houthi movement has captured the coastal city of Mokha near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, raising fears for oil shipping routes and threatening the fragile truce that has held since 2022. More than 500 people have died in a week of fighting.
Yemeni authorities say Houthi forces have seized the coastal city of Mokha, located less than 80 kilometers from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — one of the world's most important trade routes linking the Persian Gulf, Asia and Europe. The strait has gained added importance recently as a route for Saudi oil exports.
A week of escalation
According to AFP, more than 500 people have been killed in the past week, mostly soldiers and militia fighters, while roughly 18,500 residents have been forced to flee their homes. The Houthi offensive has been accompanied by missile and drone strikes on the Saudi cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait and Jizan; one recent attack reportedly injured 73 civilians in the kingdom's south. Riyadh has responded with heavy airstrikes, and the Houthis claim Saudi aircraft carried out around 40 strikes in just the past few hours across the Taiz, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf and Marib provinces. Earlier in the week, the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing a prison, killing 32 people according to Yemen's Health Ministry.
Threat to the truce and global energy markets
The current escalation threatens to unravel the fragile truce that has restrained Yemen's civil war since 2022. The conflict began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, and expanded in 2015 with the intervention of a Saudi-led coalition. The Houthis remain the country's strongest military force, controlling territory home to an estimated 60-65% of Yemen's population, according to Reuters.
After Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia rerouted much of its oil exports through the Red Sea, meaning the Houthi advance toward Bab el-Mandeb now threatens that route as well. Oil prices topped $100 a barrel on Wednesday amid the escalation. The situation is further complicated by Yemen's fractured political landscape, which includes the internationally recognized government based in Aden, Tareq Saleh's National Resistance Forces, the separatist Southern Transitional Council, and the Sunni Islah party.
