ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group seized the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha in southwestern Taiz province on Thursday amid a rapid advance toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical route for international shipping, a military official told Xinhua.
Houthi forces entered Mocha after hours of intense fighting, forcing government troops to withdraw southward toward Dhubab, a coastal area between Mocha and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The fighting in and around Mocha and other areas along the western coast has displaced thousands of families, according to the local official.
Meanwhile, the state-run Saba news agency said Saudi warplanes had carried out about 40 airstrikes in recent hours across Taiz, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf and Marib provinces. There was no immediate Saudi comment on the report.
The capture of Mocha and its port marks a major battlefield shift along Yemen's western coast, bringing Houthi forces closer to Bab al-Mandab, the narrow maritime chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Mocha lies about 70 km north of the narrowest point of the strait.
Fighting has intensified across western and northern Yemen in recent days, in one of the sharpest escalations since a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major hostilities.
Yemen's conflict began in late 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government. ■
