Houthis seize Yemen’s Mocha port, closing in on Bab al-Mandeb shipping chokepoint
NEW · Thu. 3:00 p.m. EDT
Iran-backed Houthi forces took the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday after Saudi-aligned National Resistance Forces withdrew south toward Dhubab, Yemeni government sources told Reuters, CNN, and Al Jazeera. Mocha sits roughly 50 miles north of Perim Island near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a corridor that carries a significant share of Asia–Europe trade and Gulf energy flows via the Suez Canal. AFP reported fighters also seized Zuqar Island; Maj. Gen. Tareq Saleh said he moved his command to a safer location to regroup. The advance comes as the wider U.S.–Iran war and recent Houthi strikes on Saudi energy sites have already pushed Brent crude above $100.
U.S. Navy ships transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. File photograph; not from Thursday’s Mocha fighting.
U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeffry A. Willadsen (public domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Center-left view
CNN, Al Jazeera, and AFP emphasize the government withdrawal from Mocha, displacement toward Aden, and analyst warnings that losing the last fully government-held Red Sea harbour and the Taiz road is a major blow to Yemen’s internationally recognized authorities amid a return to large-scale fighting.
Sources: CNN · Al Jazeera · AFP / France 24
Center-right view
Reuters factbox coverage, The National, and Ynet stress Iran-backed Houthi leverage over Bab al-Mandeb energy and commodity routes, the push for full Red Sea coastal control, and the risk that coastal guns and missiles could coerce shipping already strained by the U.S.–Iran war and Saudi-site attacks.
Sources: Reuters · The National · Ynet