Yemen's Houthis reportedly seize strategic Red Sea port of Mokha

Footage from Houthi-run Al Masirah TV purportedly showed Houthi fighters in Mocha Yemen's Houthis have seized the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha from Saudi-backed pro-government forces, military sources and witnesses say. Mokha's capture leaves the Iran-backed group only 75km (46 miles) away from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the southern gateway to a trade route that links Asia and Europe. The Houthis said they posed no threat to international shipping but reiterated their threat to target vessels from Saudi Arabia, which has relied on the Red Sea for oil exports since the US and Israel's war effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf. The escalation of the conflict between the Houthis, Yemen's government and Saudi Arabia has contributed to a surge in oil prices. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed and thousands displaced since the Houthis launched an offensive in the south-west a week ago. A Saudi-led coalition has also carried out air strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in western Yemen in support of the pro-government forces, and the Houthis have launched missiles and drones at cities and oil facilities in southern Saudi Arabia. Mokha residents said Houthi fighters moved into the city after fierce clashes with pro-government forces on Wednesday night, prompting many families to flee their homes. "The takeover came without warning. Panic spread throughout the area, forcing people to flee amid distressing scenes of injured people lying in the streets with no-one there to help them," one man told BBC Arabic's Middle East Lifeline programme. Another man said that Houthi fighters were patrolling the streets of Mokha on Thursday, while government offices and shops were closed. "At the moment, we don't know what Ansar Allah will do," he added, using the group's formal name. "Everyone is afraid for their safety." Many displaced families are heading east towards the city of Aden, where Yemen's internationally recognised Presidential Leadership Council and government are based. "We fled with our children and kept running. We have no bedding, no home, nothing with us. Everything was destroyed within an hour. They didn't even give us a chance or warn us beforehand," one woman told BBC Arabic. "We are women with no means of defending ourselves, and we have innocent children with us." There was no immediate confirmation of Mokha's capture from the Houthis. But the group's Supreme Political Council said in a statement on Thursday that clashes had "ceased in the western coast districts after the expulsion of Saudi enemy mobilisations", according to Houthi-run Al Masirah TV.