Mocha: Houthi forces reportedly reached Yemen's strategic Mocha port near the Bab al-Mandab Strait on Thursday, 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.
According to Anadolu Agency, the privately owned Al-Masdar Online website reported that Houthi forces had taken control of Hays and Al-Khawkhah, as well as large areas of several districts in western Taiz province. Hays serves as one of the key front lines in the battle for Yemen's western coast, due to its strategic location linking southern districts of Al-Hudaydah with supply routes leading toward Mocha and Bab al-Mandab. The website noted that Houthi forces had advanced to Mocha port in the Taiz province after government forces withdrew south toward Lahej province. There was no immediate comment from government forces on the reports.
Mocha holds major military significance because it is one of Yemen's closest cities to Bab al-Mandab, a vital international maritime passage linking the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and is used by ships traveling to and from the Suez Canal. According to an Anadolu correspondent, the Houthis appear to be putting pressure on supply lines and roads linking Taiz and Al-Hudaydah provinces, with the aim of advancing toward coastal fronts and isolating Mocha.
Separately, the privately owned Yemeni Al-Hudhud platform reported that the Houthis had taken control of strategic Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. There was no immediate official comment from the Houthi group or government forces on the report. Zuqar Island has strategic importance because of its location in the Red Sea near Bab al-Mandab, 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.
Earlier Thursday, the government-aligned National Resistance Forces announced the formation of a command center south of Mocha following Houthi advances on several fronts in western Yemen. The government media office in Al-Hudaydah said in a statement that military units operating on the Hays front in southern Al-Hudaydah and western Taiz were being reorganized. 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 have taken control of the two districts, where National Resistance Forces had been deployed, the group would have established full control over Al-Hudaydah province, according to an Anadolu correspondent. The developments come amid Yemen's broadest escalation since 2022, when a UN-sponsored truce was initiated before the peace process stalled and military confrontations resumed in July. 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 recognized government.