Yemen Government Forces Strike Houthi Targets in Red Sea Port City as Fighting Escalates

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces announced Saturday that they had launched strikes against Iran-allied Houthi fighters in the Red Sea city of Mocha, as the number of civilians displaced by the renewed conflict continued to climb sharply.

According to the US news outlet Axios, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had placed two calls to US President Donald Trump the previous week, seeking American military action against the Houthis. Both requests were reportedly declined.

The latest escalation follows a week-long Houthi offensive that resulted in the group seizing the remainder of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and several strategic islands, consolidating its control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern entrance to the sea.

The strategic waterway has become a critical route for Saudi Arabian oil exports after Iran largely severed shipments through the Gulf by blockading the Strait of Hormuz at the outset of the Middle East war. The Houthis have more recently declared their own maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports.

Yemen’s government news agency Saba reported on Saturday that Yemeni forces “destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia” near the port of Mocha, citing a military spokesman who said the operation also included strikes on Houthi targets in the vicinity of the city.

The Houthis, for their part, said Saturday evening that Saudi-led aircraft had carried out 129 airstrikes against areas under their control over the preceding 48 hours.

Yemen’s civil war, which erupted in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, had been largely dormant since a ceasefire in 2022 before reigniting in July, making it the latest front in the broader Middle East conflict.

Saudi Arabia entered the Yemeni war in 2015 on the side of the internationally recognised government and continues to back the administration based in Aden.

On Saturday, Saudi authorities issued two brief warnings alerting residents to the risk of attacks in two southern regions bordering Yemen.

– ‘Not Even a Shelter’ –

The civil war has already uprooted millions, and the latest fighting has driven even more from their homes.

The Houthi takeover of Mocha on Thursday prompted a wave of residents fleeing to Aden, where the internationally recognised government is headquartered.

One displaced resident, Abdulali al-Rajihi, said the Houthis “told us: ‘Leave, scatter, you have half an hour’.”

“We fled wearing the clothes on our backs. And we took our children, as much as we could manage,” he added.

Saddam Ali evacuated Al-Waziyah with his 11 children and a few belongings packed into a small pickup truck. He said he was unable to find a single vacant house in the city — “not even a shelter.”

The UN’s migration agency said Saturday that 76,000 people had fled the fighting since July, a figure that has quadrupled since last week.

It said it was providing support but cautioned that “needs are far outpacing what we can deliver.”

“The situation is deteriorating by the day,” the agency added.

The renewed fighting in Yemen has killed more than 500 people, according to sources on both sides.

– ‘Fine and Dandy’ –

Following the Axios report on the Saudi request for assistance, Trump acknowledged on Saturday that he had spoken to the de facto Saudi leader but said the Houthis had also “called us and they don’t want to fight with us.”

He did not elaborate on whether the US would take any action, but told reporters that “everything’s gonna work out fine and dandy” in the region.

In 2025, the United States conducted a seven-week bombing campaign against the Houthis in response to their repeated attacks on Red Sea shipping in support of Hamas in the Gaza war.

That campaign ended with a negotiated ceasefire, although the Houthis continued their missile and drone strikes targeting Israel.

More recently, the group has resumed attacks on ships in the Red Sea after declaring its maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia.

In the capital Sanaa, Houthi supporters celebrated the release of 210 prisoners held in areas that fell to the group.

The group said they were prisoners of war who had been detained for up to eight years.

“I have rediscovered the taste of life,” freed prisoner Mohammed Bajash told AFP. “For five years, I suffered every day.”

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