Yemeni Army Airstrikes Target Houthi Gatherings in Al-Mokha

The Yemeni Armed Forces announced early Saturday morning that it had eliminated “large gatherings” of Ansar Allah (Houthi) fighters and destroyed military vehicles and weapons in aerial strikes on the Red Sea port city of Al-Mokha and its vicinity. The statement was issued by the Yemeni Military Media Center on the platform X.

Targeted Locations in Al-Mokha

According to the statement, the airstrikes struck multiple locations within Al-Mokha in western Taiz Governorate. One set of raids targeted “large gatherings of Houthi militia elements near Zaid Al-Khurj Mall.” Additional strikes hit “Houthi militia gatherings adjacent to the Water Project Administration office and inside a former military commander’s headquarters in the same city.”

The Yemeni Air Force also “completely eliminated Houthi militia vehicles, weapons, and personnel near Al-Mokha Port and along the Al-Mokha–Dhobab road at the Animal Quarantine Station, located 11 kilometers from the coastal city,” the statement added. No further details were provided, and no comment was issued by the Houthis.

Houthi Control of Bab al-Mandeb

The airstrikes followed the Houthis’ announcement on Friday that they had completed their takeover of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait area and the western Yemeni coast along the Red Sea — a development raising concerns over maritime traffic through this strategic waterway.

A Yemeni government official stated that the Houthis “completed their control over the Bab al-Mandeb area and Perim Island, located centrally within the strait,” and confirmed their control over Greater Hanish and Lesser Hanish — the last two islands in the region previously held by government forces. The official added: “Everything we held on the western coast has fallen.”

Witnesses reported that Houthi fighters “are deployed along the Bab al-Mandeb shoreline and are patrolling with military vehicles.”

The Bab al-Mandeb region includes four strategic islands formerly under government control: Za‘qur Island — situated near the strait at the heart of the international shipping lane between Yemen and Eritrea, seized by the Houthis on Thursday; Perim Island; and Greater and Lesser Hanish, which fell on Friday.

The Houthis had captured the coastal city of Al-Mokha on Thursday, enabling their subsequent advance toward the strait.

Call for Military Reorganization

Following the Houthi capture of six districts — including Al-Mokha District in western Taiz, as confirmed in a statement by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree — Yemeni Shura Council Chairman Ahmed Obaid bin Daghr called on officers and soldiers to return to their units and newly assigned positions after the government forces’ defeat in the Al-Mokha battle in southwestern Yemen.

In a post on X, bin Daghr affirmed that “the war has not ended” and that “what happened represents its beginning.” He described the current phase as “not a time for sorrow or lamentation, nor even a time for accountability,” and expressed confidence in achieving victory.

He noted that “forces opposing the Houthi group achieved advances in the Nihm front (in northern Yemen) and the Al-Hudaydah front (in western Yemen)” during earlier stages of the war, adding that “victory was on our side in both battles,” attributing success to morale, leadership, purpose, and ideology.

Bin Daghr emphasized that “losses of lives and equipment do not mean losing the causes of victory,” asserting that Yemeni forces “still possess all the elements, causes, and factors of victory.”

Territorial Control and Casualty Figures

According to Houthi announcements, the group now controls the entirety of Al-Hudaydah Governorate and has advanced westward in Taiz Governorate, seizing Al-Mokha city and its Red Sea port. Their advance has reached areas near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

In contrast, government forces have made gains in Al-Jawf Governorate — a border province with Saudi Arabia — and are approaching Al-Hazm, the provincial capital. Fighting continues on the fronts of Marib, Al-Bayda, and Dhamar.

The International Organization for Migration reported on Friday that at least 46,000 people have been displaced since hostilities resumed. According to a tally compiled by Agence France-Presse from multiple sources, more than 500 people have been killed since last week, most of them combatants.

The UN Security Council held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the conflict, attended by UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg, who urged all council members to “engage effectively in containing what could deteriorate into a more dangerous conflict.”

Prior to the latest ground offensive, the Houthis — who control large parts of northern Yemen, including the capital Sana’a and the city of Al-Hudaydah — did not directly hold any territory overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

This escalation in Yemen began in July with renewed fighting between the Houthis and government forces, occurring against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Iran, following a truce largely observed by both sides since 2022 — after the Houthis seized Sana’a and several governorates in September 2014.