Yemen's pro‑government forces backed by Saudi Arabia declared that they had secured the Bab al‑Mandab Strait and captured the Red Sea city of Mokha on Friday.
The statement said the National Shield, Giant Brigades and Tihama Resistance forces had seized Mokha with Saudi air support, though other sources suggest the troops reached only the city’s outskirts.
The Iranians‑backed Houthi movement has meanwhile struck Riyadh's international airport and other sites, prompting Saudi air strikes that killed a schoolgirl and a woman in the capital Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia’s coalition air force has been delivering continuous air support, destroying 324 high‑value targets since the offensive began, and Turkey and Pakistan have pledged troops under the Mecca defence pact.
Houthi spokesmen accuse Saudi Arabia of committing “dozens of massacres” and warn that Saudi airspace, except above Mecca and Medina, is no longer safe for civilian airlines.
The Yemeni government said the offensive is now underway on several fronts, including the long‑held capital Sanaa, which the Houthis captured at the start of the war 12 years ago.
Operation Yemen Dawn, launched by President Al‑Amimi on Sunday, aims to reclaim all Houthi‑held territory after years of stalemate and a broken ceasefire.
Firebreaks opened by the offensive have cut a mountain road near Taiz, surrounding government forces and residents, while satellite imagery shows smoke from Houthi‑hit Aramco sites in Riyadh and Khurais.
The seizure of the Bab al‑Mandab Strait—a key maritime route for oil exports—has already pushed global oil prices up as shipping patterns shift away from the Strait of Hormuz.
So far, the fighting has killed nearly a thousand civilians and injured thousands more, with the UN reporting 197,000 people displaced.
