Yemen's Houthis seize strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha
Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured Yemen's port city of Mocha on Thursday and are advancing toward the Bab al-Mandab strait, as global oil prices surge.
Houthi fighters seized control of Yemen's strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday, with witnesses describing fighters marching into the area chanting slogans against the United States and Israel. A Yemeni military source told AFP the Houthis are now pushing toward the Bab al-Mandab strait, a critical shipping route linking Asia and Europe via the Red Sea and Suez Canal, which has grown even more important since Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz amid the wider Middle East war.
The Houthis, who already control much of northwestern Yemen including the capital Sanaa and the port of Hodeidah, launched a major offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government last week. A military source said the group also captured Zuqar Island in the southern Red Sea following missile strikes and a boat-borne assault.
Tarek Saleh, who led the National Resistance Forces previously holding Mocha, said he relocated his command centre to safety to regroup, adding that government forces had suffered heavy losses against an offensive he said was planned and backed by Iran.
Saudi Arabia carried out dozens of airstrikes over the past 24 hours, with a Houthi spokesman citing 64 strikes. The conflict has disrupted shipping in the Gulf and sent oil prices sharply higher, with US WTI crude topping $100 a barrel on Thursday, a day after Brent crude crossed that threshold.
The Houthi advance has triggered an exodus of residents from Mocha and nearby areas toward Aden, seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government, with displaced people reporting chaotic conditions and looting.
More than 500 people, mostly combatants, have died since fighting resumed last week, and nearly 20,000 have been displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration. The UN Security Council held an emergency session Thursday, called by the United Kingdom, at which the UN's Yemen envoy warned of the risk of a far more dangerous conflict and urged the Houthis to de-escalate and return to peace talks.
