Yemen's Houthi movement, known as Ansarallah, reportedly claimed on Thursday to have captured the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha after Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) forces withdrew from the city.
Open-source intelligence accounts circulating on social media cited video footage purportedly showing PLC forces pulling out of Mokha and Houthi fighters inside the city's port. One intelligence aggregator noted the reports "remain unverified from the tweets alone." A separate online post claimed Houthi forces had seized some 2,600 square kilometers of territory along the western coast, including Mokha, within 24 hours.
The reported capture caps weeks of escalating pressure on the city. Since mid-August, the Houthis have pounded Mokha with ballistic missiles and drones, forcing the port to suspend operations after more than 25 strikes that killed at least seven people and caused an estimated $16 million in damage. Port director Abdulmalik al-Sharabi said the facility had been hit by more than 35 missile and drone strikes, killing 16 people and wounding 22.
Mokha sits just north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which a significant share of global seaborne trade passes. Yemeni military analyst Col. Abdul Basit Al-Baher has warned that seizing Mokha would give the Houthis new positions to attack vessels and smuggle weapons, saying "whoever controls Mokha would control Bab Al-Mandab."
Yemen's internationally recognized government has not yet confirmed the loss of the city. UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg recently warned the country faces its "most serious risk of returning to full-scale war since the 2022 truce."