SANAA: Yemen's Houthis seized control of the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha on Thursday, a Yemeni military source told AFP, as the Iran-backed group reported fresh strikes by Saudi forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Houthis, who control large parts of northwest Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive last week against Yemeni government forces, who are backed by Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also launched attacks on Saudi territory that left dozens of people wounded, in a conflict that has reignited during the Middle East war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witnesses told AFP they saw Houthi forces entering Mokha on Thursday while chanting \"death to America, death to Israel\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Yemeni military source said they were advancing towards the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait \"after having taken control of Mokha\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The waterway, which links Asia to Europe via the Red Sea and Suez Canal, has gained importance as a transit route since the start of the wider Middle East war, which saw Iran blockade the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The military source said the Houthis also seized Zuqar Island, in the southern Red Sea, \"after rocket attacks and a ground assault carried out using boats transporting fighters\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also on Thursday, the Houthis reported airstrikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"The Saudi enemy's air force conducted around 40 strikes in recent hours in the governorates of Taiz, Hodeida, Al-Jawf and Marib,\" Houthi news agency Saba said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Hundreds dead -<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yemen relapsed into war in July after years of relative calm punctured by sporadic violence and deepening poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since last week, the fighting in Yemen has left more than 500 dead, mostly combatants, according to an AFP tally compiled from several sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has also forced nearly 20,000 people to flee their homes, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis said the anti-government fighters fired ballistic missiles and drones at several cities in southern Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Saudi civil defence issued alerts warning of \"potential danger\" in two areas, Khamis Mushait and Abha, before lifting them soon after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Houthis triggered the return to hostilities in July when they let an Iranian plane land in defiance of Saudi control of Yemeni airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government retaliated by striking Sanaa airport, an attack the Houthis blamed on its sponsor, Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ongoing exchanges risk returning Yemen to a conflict that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Houthis, after seizing Yemen's capital and forcing out the internationally recognised government, fought a Saudi-led coalition from 2015 until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SANAA: Yemen's Houthis seized control of the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha on Thursday, a Yemeni military source told AFP, as the Iran-backed group reported fresh strikes by Saudi forces. The Houthis, who control large parts of northwest Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive last week against Yemeni government forces, who are backed by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":36937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"yoast_head":"\n