Houthis Push Toward Bab Al-Mandeb, Killing At Least 100 in Yemen Fighting

Fighting has intensified between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Yemeni government forces since Thursday, with Al Jazeera reporting that "At least 100 killed" as the Houthis push toward a key strait.

“At least 100 killed as Yemen's Houthis push towards key strait”

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera also said the war has spread across Yemen’s north, west and central regions, where "At least 194 people have been killed and 880 others wounded" in the past two weeks of fighting in parts of Taiz, the western coast, al-Jawf, Marib and Dhalea.

Al Jazeera

On the ground, Al Jazeera reported that the Houthis intensified attacks on the coastal district of al-Makha (Mocha) on the western coast to gain a foothold in the Red Sea, while government forces battled to expand in Taiz and boost their control of Marib.

Al Jazeera’s account tied the fighting to the Bab al-Mandeb strait, describing it as a vital shipping lane and a chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

In parallel, Al Jazeera reported that fighting has also raged in al-Jawf governorate bordering Saudi Arabia and Dhalea, which connects the Houthi-controlled north to the country’s south under the internationally recognised government.

Al Jazeera reported that the internationally recognised government blamed the Houthis for an artillery attack that killed three children, while Saudi Arabia accused the Iran-backed group of continuing to strike the kingdom’s infrastructure.

In response, Al Jazeera said the Houthis promised to retaliate for what they said were 54 Saudi airstrikes in a 12-hour span, as Pakistan warned that continued Houthi attacks could trigger the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera quoted the Saudi-led coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki saying the Houthis were “persisting” in attacks on the kingdom’s assets and infrastructure, and promising that the coalition would respond to what he called the Houthis’ “heinous attacks”.

Al Jazeera also reported that a Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the group’s “These air strikes and the ongoing aggression against our country will not go unanswered and unpunished” and described the aircraft involved as taking off from King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and King Fahd Air Base in Taif.

The same Al Jazeera report said Saudi Arabia’s civil defence authority issued multiple alerts for Khamis Mushait and Abha on Wednesday and early on Thursday, with no casualties reported in connection with those alerts.

Al Jazeera reported that Houthi forces grabbed control of the Yemeni port city of Mocha on Thursday, describing the move as part of a major offensive amid escalated fighting between the Iran-aligned movement and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.

“Areas south of Hodeidah and Mocha witnessed waves of displacement towards Dhubab and Aden”

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera said hundreds of women and children left Mocha, seeking shelter in the Saudi-backed government-controlled provinces of Lahij and Aden, while it warned that the violence threatened to exacerbate an already devastating humanitarian crisis across Taiz and al-Hodeidah provinces where more than 20,000 people had been displaced due to clashes over the past two weeks.

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed al-Shalafi said, "Areas south of Hodeidah and Mocha witnessed waves of displacement towards Dhubab and Aden," as he highlighted the immediate civilian toll of the military shift.

The report also said the Houthis applied pressure from three distinct axes starting on September 3, including western Taiz, southern Hodeidah, and Mocha city itself, and that a key factor was the withdrawal of the National Resistance Forces from the fighting.

Al Jazeera linked the stakes to global shipping by noting that Mocha sits approximately 75km (47 miles) north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and that controlling Mocha could give the Houthis a “stranglehold along the Bab al-Mandeb,” while also severing the road linking Mocha with Taiz and supply lines through Mocha’s port.