Houthis Seize Red Sea Port of Mokha, Yemeni Officials Say

The latest:

Mokha and its Red Sea port fell to the Iran-backed Houthi militia on Thursday after days of heavy ground fighting, according to a local official in the city and a senior provincial official, both speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The advance pushed out forces allied with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

Details:

• The ground battle: Mokha had been the focus of several days of fierce fighting between the Houthis and government-allied forces, the two Yemeni officials said. The New York Times described a sweeping ground offensive that could reshape control of an important shipping route.
• The geography: Mokha lies less than 50 miles from the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. The Houthis have attacked ships from Yemeni territory further north before; analysts said control of Mokha gives them a foothold far closer to the strait.
• The commander: The city had been held by Lt. Gen. Tareq Saleh, a commander allied with the government. He said on social media Thursday that he had ordered his troops to “reorganize their ranks and establish an alternative command center in a secure location,” in consultation with the Saudi-led coalition.
• The video: Footage circulating online and verified by The New York Times shows pickup trucks carrying armed men driving along a main Mokha road lined with businesses. A voice behind the camera is heard chanting part of a Houthi slogan invoking death to America and Israel.
• Houthi framing: The Houthi-affiliated foreign ministry said Thursday the group will not pose a threat and is prepared to join a regional security framework, particularly on protecting maritime navigation. The statement made no reference to the fighting in Mokha, and urged the international community to compel Saudi Arabia to stop targeting Yemen.
• The oil route: Saudi Arabia normally exports through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed since the early days of its war with the United States following the American and Israeli attacks on Iran in February. Riyadh pivoted to the Red Sea, but Houthi escalation has disrupted that route over the past two months.
• The blockade: In July the militia declared a blockade on Saudi oil tankers transiting the Red Sea and launched missile and drone attacks on ships and Saudi facilities from northern Yemen, according to the report.
• Competing claims: Houthi officials in recent days have accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out more than 100 airstrikes in Yemen to support its Yemeni allies. Houthi officials, General Saleh’s spokesman and the Saudi government did not respond to requests for comment.
• Analyst assessment: Adam Baron, a Yemen-focused fellow at New America in Washington, assessed the fall of Mokha as potentially one of the more significant turning points in the Yemen conflict in recent years, and called the area near the strait arguably Yemen’s most strategically valuable real estate.

Background:

The Houthis and the government have been at war since 2014, when the militia seized the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition then began bombing to restore the government, driving the country into civil war. A fragile 2022 truce has unraveled in recent months.

Between the lines:

Baron expects the Houthis to push south toward territory beside Bab al-Mandab and possibly an island in the waterway. Should they succeed, he said, both of the Arabian Peninsula’s major maritime chokepoints, Bab al-Mandab and Hormuz, would sit under Iran and its allies. That prospect explains why a port city loss registers beyond Yemen: Riyadh’s fallback oil route runs past it, and the Houthis are pressing to be treated as the country’s legitimate government.

What’s next

Watch whether Houthi forces advance further south toward Bab al-Mandab, where General Saleh establishes his alternative command center, and whether Saudi Arabia responds publicly to the airstrike accusations or to the loss of Mokha.