Yemen government forces report recapture of Mocha from Houthis

New Delhi ( Vivek Ojha ) : ported that they have retaken the strategic port city of Mocha as they pursue a major counteroffensive against the Houthis.

The internationally -recognised government’s military said on Monday that it had also retaken control of key positions near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, as it seeks to oust the Iran-aligned Houthis from control of the strategic waterway – a key route for global energy supplies. A “strategic offensive” has also been launched on Yemen’s capital Sanaa, it added.

The military said on social media that fighting took place across several fronts near Mocha, leaving a number of Houthi fighters dead and wounded. Several Houthi fighters were captured, military sources said, without specifying the number of casualties.

Amid the United States and Israel’s war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Houthis have relaunched hostilities with the Saudi Arabia-backed Yemeni government. In a rapid offensive in September, the group captured Mocha in western Taiz governorate, and then territory around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Earlier on Monday, Yemeni government forces said they had reclaimed control of the governorate’s Dhubab district and key positions near the strait, as well as launching a “strategic offensive” on Sanaa. The Houthis have controlled the Yemeni capital and much of Yemen’s populous northwest since 2014.

“Forces from the Homeland Shield Forces and the Giants Brigades carried out a large-scale military operation with air cover targeting Houthi militia positions and movements in several areas of the district,” Yemen’s Saudi-backed military said in a statement carried by the government-aligned news agency Saba regarding the fighting in Dhubab.