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Houthis Capture Yemen's Mokha, Escalating Conflict Near Red Sea
Confirmed
In Short: The Houthis have seized the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha from Saudi-backed pro-government forces, raising tensions and oil prices amid ongoing conflict in Yemen.
Footage from Houthi-run Al Masirah TV purportedly showed Houthi fighters in Mokha, a strategic Red Sea port city, having taken the area from Saudi-backed pro-government forces, according to military sources and witnesses.
The capture leaves the Iran-backed group only 75km away from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical waterway linking Asia and Europe, and has contributed to a surge in oil prices.
The conflict has escalated with the Houthis launching dozens of drones and missiles at southern Saudi Arabia, causing civilian injuries and halting oil operations, while Saudi-led coalition forces have carried out air strikes on Houthi-controlled areas.
The capture could give Iran another potential point of leverage in its war with the US, as Donald Trump has said he does not regret launching the war, despite concerns over its impact on upcoming midterm elections.
What's confirmed
- Footage from Houthi-run Al Masirah TV purportedly showed Houthi fighters in Mokha, a strategic Red Sea port city, having taken the area from Saudi-backed pro-government forces, according to military sources and witnesses.
- The capture leaves the Iran-backed group only 75km away from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical waterway linking Asia and Europe, and has contributed to a surge in oil prices.
- The conflict has escalated with the Houthis launching dozens of drones and missiles at southern Saudi Arabia, causing civilian injuries and halting oil operations, while Saudi-led coalition forces have carried out air strikes on Houthi-controlled areas.
- The capture could give Iran another potential point of leverage in its war with the US, as Donald Trump has said he does not regret launching the war, despite concerns over its impact on upcoming midterm elections.
What's still developing
- The Houthis said they posed no threat to international shipping but reiterated their threat to target vessels from Saudi Arabia, which has relied on the Red Sea for oil exports since the US and Israel's war effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
- Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed and thousands displaced since the Houthis launched an offensive in the south-west a week ago.
- The Houthis said they were retaliating for dozens of Saudi air strikes on territory they control in recent days, including one on a prison in the town of Hazm in Jawf province on Monday that they said killed at least 23 civilians.
- A four-year-old informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
- The Houthis said they were retaliating for a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom.
- "We are women with no means of defending ourselves, and we have innocent children with us." There was no immediate confirmation of Mokha's capture from the Houthis.
- Oil prices have touched $108 a barrel for the first time since May after Iran-backed Houthi militants captured Yemen’s strategic port city of Mokha, raising fears it could bring them closer to targeting shipping through a critical waterway to the Red Sea.
- More than 100 US military advisers are in Saudi Arabia providing intelligence and targeting support as the kingdom fights Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen.