In Reply to: Thursday comes again. posted by mh on September 10, 2026 at 09:18:59
Houthi forces grabbed control of the Yemeni port city of Mocha on Thursday, in a major offensive that comes amid escalated fighting between the Iran-aligned movement and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.
Hundreds of women and children left Mocha, seeking shelter in the Saudi-backed government-controlled provinces of Lahij and Aden, as the growing violence also threatened to exacerbate an already devastating humanitarian crisis across the Taiz and al-Hodeidah provinces, where more than 20,000 people have been displaced due to clashes over the past two weeks.
The fall of Mocha is the culmination of a massive Houthi offensive that exposed vulnerabilities within government-aligned defences. According to al-Shalafi, the Houthis applied pressure from three distinct axes starting on September 3: western Taiz, southern Hodeidah, and Mocha city itself.
Mocha’s geography makes its capture a global concern. The city sits approximately 75km (47 miles) north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Known as the Gate of Tears, this narrow passage is a critical artery for crude oil and fuel travelling from the Gulf to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, as well as for Asian commodities and Russian oil.
Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry explained that controlling Mocha could give the Houthis a “stranglehold along the Bab al-Mandeb”.
Furthermore, it severs critical anti-Houthi supply lines, including “the road linking Mocha with Taiz” running south from Mocha, and supply lines through Mocha’s port.
“This is a turning point right now in the war,” defence policy analyst Wolfgang Pusztai told Al Jazeera. “This might lead to a breakdown of the government forces in the southern part of Yemen.”
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Seizure of the coast would be a strategic disaster for Saudi Arabia and the US, taking Iran and its proxies closer to full control of two chokepoints for western shipping on opposite sides of the Arabian peninsula.