Houthis reportedly reached Yemen’s strategic Mokha port near the Bab al Mandeb Strait, while Yemeni media also reported that the group had taken control of Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, without official confirmation from the Houthis or government forces.
The privately owned Al-Masdar online website reported on Thursday that Houthis had taken control of Hays and Al-Khawkhah, as well as large areas of several districts in western Taiz province.
Hays is one of the key front lines in the battle for Yemen’s western coast, due to its strategic location linking southern districts of Hudaida with supply routes leading toward Mokha and Bab al Mandeb.
The website said Houthis had advanced to Mokha port in the Taiz province after government forces withdrew south toward Lahej province.
Mokha holds major military significance because it is one of Yemen’s closest cities to Bab al Mandeb, a vital international maritime passage linking the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and used by ships travelling to and from the Suez Canal.
According to Anadolu, the Houthis appear to be putting pressure on supply lines and roads linking Taiz and Hudaida provinces, intending to advance toward coastal fronts and isolate Mokha.
Zuqar Island
Separately, the privately owned Yemeni Al-Hudhud platform said the Houthis had taken control of strategic Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, near the Bab al Mandeb Strait.
There was no immediate official comment from the Houthi group or government forces on the reports.
Zuqar Island has strategic importance because of its location in the Red Sea near Bab al Mandeb, one of the world’s key maritime routes, giving it significance for monitoring navigation as well as naval and military movements in the area.
The island had been under the control of the government-aligned National Resistance Forces, led by Presidential Leadership Council member Tariq Saleh.
Command centre
Earlier, the government-aligned National Resistance Forces announced the formation of a command centre south of Mokha following Houthi advances on several fronts in western Yemen.
The government media office in Hudaida said in a statement that military units operating on the Hays front in southern Hudaida and western Taiz were being reorganised.
Meanwhile, activists on social media circulated images they said showed Houthi fighters following their capture of the Hays and Al-Khawkhah districts.
If the Houthis had taken control of the two districts where National Resistance Forces had been deployed, the group would have established full control over Hudaida province, according to Anadolu.
Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and several provinces in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led Arab coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.
Fighting between the Houthis and the government forces has reignited after a four-year truce collapsed in July, months into the Middle East war between the United States and Iran.
In recent days, hundreds have died in clashes around the Bab al Mandeb strait, the mouth of the vital Red Sea shipping route.
The Houthis imposed a naval blockade in July against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea in response to what they described as a Saudi siege on Yemen, an allegation Riyadh has denied.
