The Houthis say they have taken control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline after capturing the strategic port city of Mocha, significantly expanding their control around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important shipping routes.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group had expelled Saudi-backed forces from six districts in an offensive launched on September 3. He claimed the operation covered 5,400 square kilometers and resulted in heavy losses among opposing forces.
According to Saree, seven military brigades comprising 38 brigades were targeted, with hundreds of fighters killed, captured or wounded. He also said Houthi forces had freed Yemeni prisoners held by Saudi-aligned forces and carried out 32 air defense operations, claiming nine aircraft were brought down.
Saree said maritime traffic remained safe for all companies except Saudi vessels, which he said were banned. The Houthis, he added, would continue what they described as an “equation of siege with siege and escalation with escalation” until the fighting against Yemen ended and the country’s blockade was lifted.
A Houthi political official, Hazem al-Assad, also sought to reassure shipping companies, telling the UK-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed that there was “no cause for alarm” and that “freedom of navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb are safe and orderly.”
