Yemeni government claims coastal gains near Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Mocha, Yemen. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces said they made a rapid advance on Monday along the coast from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Mocha, driving Iran-backed Houthi fighters out of most areas they captured last month.

Government reports advance towards Mocha

Four government sources said forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government reached Mocha’s outskirts late on Monday, supported by heavy Saudi air strikes, as Houthi fighters withdrew towards the highlands. The Defence Ministry said the city had been captured.

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Government forces had earlier secured key positions, including an airstrip in the Dhubab district at the entrance to the strait. The Bab el-Mandeb is a vital route for Red Sea oil shipments, and its seizure by the Houthis last month unsettled energy markets.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the extent of the reported gains. The Houthis, who have held many of Yemen’s more populous areas, including the capital Sanaa, since 2014, dismissed the government’s claims as baseless.

Recapturing the coast around the strait would make it more difficult for the Houthis to disrupt shipping between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. However, they could still use drones to attack vessels from positions farther along the coast and inland.

Houthi gains reported near Taiz

Five military sources with the Yemeni government said the Houthis had made significant advances near Taiz, taking sections of a mountain road and leaving government forces in the area besieged. One government source denied that the road had been cut.

The Houthis also threatened to target air traffic in Saudi airspace.

Regional allies agree deployment

The escalation prompted action by Riyadh’s allies. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed at an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Monday to rapidly deploy military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia under their Mecca defence pact, according to a joint statement.

War resumes after ceasefire collapse

The war in Yemen resumed this summer following the collapse of a ceasefire that had held since 2022. Fighting has continued intermittently since Saudi Arabia began an air campaign against the Houthis in 2015, triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in a country that was already the poorest Arab state.

Combat has spread across several front lines in recent weeks as Yemen’s dormant civil war reignited in a spillover from the US-Iran conflict. The Houthis have sought control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait while launching missiles and drones at Saudi cities and infrastructure.