'Support never came': How Houthis caught Saudi forces off guard in 'lightning' strike

Yemen's government forces announced on Saturday that they had targeted Houthi fighters in the key Red Sea city of Mocha, following a week-long offensive. The Houthis seized the city on Thursday, gaining control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial maritime route for Saudi oil exports due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the ongoing US-Iran conflict.

According to Saba, the government news agency, the Yemeni forces destroyed Houthi vehicles and weaponry and killed several members of the Iranian-backed militia near Mocha's port. A government spokesperson, Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, mentioned that they also attacked Houthi vehicles and personnel on the Mocha-Dhubab road, roughly 11 kilometers from the city. Nazili further urged citizens to refrain from using the Taiz-Mocha and Mocha-Dhubab roads.

The Houthi takeover of Mocha on Thursday prompted a mass exodus of residents to Aden, where the internationally recognized government is headquartered. On Friday, Houthi media claimed that two Saudi strikes struck Mocha's airport, while a local official reported that the city's seaport was targeted by six unidentified missiles. The Houthi offensive, which began last week, has resulted in over 500 casualties and displaced approximately 46,000 people, as reported by both sides.

This development is part of the renewed violence in Yemen's civil war, which originated with the group's capture of the capital Sanaa in 2014.