The fall of the port town of Mokha has pushed Iran-backed Houthi fighters to within about 75km of the Bab al-Mandab, increasing the risk that fighting will disrupt shipping on a key route between Asia and Europe. Witnesses and military sources reported heavy clashes before fighters entered the city, prompting chaotic evacuations and repeated accounts of homes damaged or destroyed as residents fled east toward Aden, where Yemen's internationally recognised leadership is based.
People in Mokha described sudden fighting and scenes of panic, with some injured in the streets and shops and government offices shut as Houthi fighters began to patrol. One displaced woman said she and her children fled with nothing. The capture follows a week-long Houthi push in southwest Yemen that has already displaced thousands and, according to military accounts in the area, killed hundreds.
The Houthi Supreme Political Council said clashes had "ceased in the western coast districts after the expulsion of Saudi enemy mobilisations" and asserted its "right to defend [Yemen's] sovereignty and territorial waters while simultaneously reassuring the international community that navigation in the Red Sea remains safe," a statement carried by Houthi-run Al Masirah TV. At the same time a Houthi-run humanitarian coordination centre said the group's embargo on Saudi ships remains in effect.
Pro-government commander Tarek Salah said he moved his west coast command to a "safe location" and that his forces had paid "a heavy price in recent days in the face of a Houthi offensive that was planned and supported by Iran." A Yemeni military source said Houthi fighters had also seized Zuqar Island, roughly 80km northwest of Mokha, after rocket barrages and a maritime assault.
The advance has fed a cycle of regional strikes and counter-strikes. Saudi-led coalition aircraft have carried out air strikes in western Yemen, and Houthi forces have launched missiles and drones at cities and oil facilities in southern Saudi Arabia. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said Saudi warplanes carried out 64 strikes across several western provinces in the previous 24 hours, underscoring the intensifying exchanges.
Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, appealed to Arab states and other countries for help to protect Yemen's coasts and restore state control. The Saudi-led coalition said it would respond to Houthi missile and drone attacks, and there was no immediate comment from the Saudi military on reports from Mokha. The situation leaves a volatile front line along Yemen's western coast and raises fresh questions about the security of Red Sea shipping and regional energy infrastructure as military operations continue.
