Houthis escalate fighting in Yemen, eyeing control over Mocha Port, Bab al-Mandab Strait - report
Fighting has intensified around western Taiz as the Houthis attempted to reach Mocha, a port city less than 50 miles from the strait, Col. Abdul Basit al-Baher told the NYT.
The Houthis escalated fighting in Yemen in recent days as the Iran-backed terror group worked to seize territory that would give them greater control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a chokepoint at the entrance to the Red Sea that is instrumental in international shipping routes, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing local security sources.
Fighting has intensified around western Taiz as the Houthis attempted to reach Mocha, a port city less than 50 miles from the strait, Col. Abdul Basit al-Baher, an army officer with the Yemeni government in the region, told the NYT.
The Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi oil tankers passing through the Red Sea, which is where most of Saudi Arabia's oil exports travel, in July and have since launched missile and drone attacks at passing ships and Saudi facilities from northern Yemen.
Access to Mocha would enable the Houthis to exert greater control over ships transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the NYT cited Yemeni analysts as saying.
Heavy clashes in the area were confirmed to the NYT by an anonymous second security official in Taiz. The official added that the Houthis were attempting to cut off supply routes to Mocha.
Mocha targeted earlier in month
Mocha Port was targeted by multiple missiles in early August and was forced to suspend operations at one point after being hit by more than 25 missiles in a few days.
The Houthis said at the time they targeted a military buildup of weapons and warships belonging to Saudi-backed forces in Mocha and have continued to defend their attacks as pre-emptive, accusing Saudi and Yemeni governments of preparing for a ground offensive.
Until this week, most clashes involving the Houthis consisted of missile and drone attacks, without major ground battles, according to the NYT.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.