Yemen's Houthis seize key city on Red Sea: military source

Yemen's Houthis seized control of the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha on Thursday, a Yemeni military source told AFP. The Iran-backed group also reported fresh strikes by Saudi forces as fighting intensified.

What did the Houthis capture in Yemen?

The Houthis took control of the port city of Mokha and are now advancing toward the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a Yemeni military source said. They also seized Zuqar Island in the southern Red Sea after rocket attacks and a ground assault carried out using boats to transport fighters.

The Houthis, who control large parts of northwest Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive last week against Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia. They also launched attacks on Saudi territory that left dozens of people wounded, reigniting a conflict during the wider Middle East war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Witnesses told AFP they saw Houthi forces entering Mokha on Thursday while chanting "death to America, death to Israel." The Bab al-Mandeb strait links Asia to Europe via the Red Sea and Suez Canal, and has gained importance as a transit route since Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the wider war.

What is happening with Saudi airstrikes in Yemen?

The Houthis reported fresh Saudi airstrikes on Thursday. Houthi news agency Saba said the Saudi air force conducted around 40 strikes in recent hours across the governorates of Taiz, Hodeida, Al-Jawf and Marib.

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis said the group fired ballistic missiles and drones at several cities in southern Saudi Arabia. Saudi civil defense issued alerts warning of "potential danger" in Khamis Mushait and Abha, before lifting them shortly after.

How did the fighting in Yemen restart?

Yemen relapsed into war in July after years of relative calm interrupted by sporadic violence and deepening poverty. The fighting has left more than 500 dead since last week, mostly combatants, according to an AFP tally compiled from several sources, and has forced nearly 20,000 people to flee their homes, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday.

The Houthis triggered the return to hostilities in July when they allowed an Iranian plane to land in defiance of Saudi control of Yemeni airspace. The government retaliated by striking Sanaa airport, an attack the Houthis blamed on Saudi Arabia.

The ongoing exchanges risk returning Yemen to a conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people and sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The Houthis, after seizing Yemen's capital and forcing out the internationally recognized government, fought a Saudi-led coalition from 2015 until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in 2022.