Yemen Forces Hit Houthis in Red Sea City

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces said on Saturday that they had carried out strikes against Houthi fighters in the strategic Red Sea city of Mocha.

The reported attacks came after the Iran-aligned Houthis captured the city on Thursday following heavy fighting, before taking control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast a day later.

The offensive has strengthened the Houthis’ position around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key route for Saudi Arabian oil exports, as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed during the US-Iran war.

Yemen’s government news agency, Saba, reported that government forces had destroyed Houthi vehicles and weapons and killed fighters near Mocha’s port.

Government forces spokesman Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said the forces also targeted Houthi vehicles and fighters along the Mocha-Dhubab road outside the city.

Nazili had said on Friday that government forces were shelling areas in Mocha and urged residents to avoid the Taiz-Mocha and Mocha-Dhubab roads.

The capture of Mocha prompted many residents to flee to Aden, where Yemen’s internationally recognised government is based.

Houthi media reported on Friday that two Saudi strikes hit Mocha airport, while a local official said six missiles of unknown origin struck the city’s seaport.

United States news site Axios reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had twice called US President Donald Trump the previous week to request American strikes against the Houthis.

Trump, however, said on Saturday that the Houthis had contacted Washington and indicated that they did not want to fight the United States.

He did not say whether the US would take military action against the group, but expressed confidence that the situation in the region would be resolved.

The United States previously carried out a seven-week bombing campaign against the Houthis from March 2025 in response to repeated attacks on international shipping linked to the group’s support for Hamas during the Gaza war.

The campaign ended with a negotiated ceasefire, although the Houthis continued missile and drone attacks targeting Israel.

The group has more recently resumed attacks on ships in the Red Sea after declaring a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis’ ground offensive, which began last week, has killed more than 500 people, according to sources on both sides.

The United Nations migration agency said on Saturday that the fighting had also displaced about 76,000 people, with the figure quadrupling within a week.

Yemen’s civil war began after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A truce reached in 2022 later collapsed in July.