Houthi Forces Seize Yemen's Mokha Port, a Key Point Near Red Sea Shipping Lane

Houthi forces have taken control of the Yemeni port city of Mokha, gaining a foothold close to one of the world's most important shipping lanes and securing their largest territorial advance since a truce in 2022.

The takeover, reported on Thursday (August 10, 2026), was confirmed separately to The Associated Press by Ahmed Baash, a commander with the National Resistance Forces, which is aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised government, and by Hazam al-Assad, a member of the Houthi political bureau.

Mokha lies on Yemen's Red Sea coast, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow waterway that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Roughly 12 per cent of the world's oil and other traded goods are shipped through it.

The strait has become more important for global energy supplies because shipping through the nearby Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted following the hostilities involving Iran, the United States and Israel in February.

Residents of Mokha told the AP that Houthi fighters could be seen throughout the city and that markets had shut. Mokha had long been held by forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognised government. The extent of the fighting and any casualties were not immediately known, and independent verification of conditions in the city was not possible.

Yemen has been divided by more than a decade of war. The Houthi movement controls much of the north, including the capital, Sanaa, and the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, while the internationally recognised government operates from the south with the support of a Saudi-led coalition.

The war began in 2014, when Houthi forces seized Sanaa, and escalated the following year when the coalition intervened. A United Nations-brokered truce in April 2022 sharply reduced the fighting, but it has repeatedly lapsed and no lasting settlement has been reached. The United Nations describes the humanitarian situation as one of the worst in the world, with millions of Yemenis dependent on aid. UN and regional envoys have repeatedly tried to revive the truce and start a political process to end the war, so far without a durable agreement.

Mokha, historically a coffee-trading port that gave its name to mocha, sits in Taiz governorate, near some of the country's main commercial routes.

The Bab el-Mandeb is one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints. Ships carrying crude oil, liquefied natural gas, container cargo and grain pass between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden daily. A single attack or blockade can push insurers to raise premiums along the entire route, and the effects reach importers and consumers in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Houthi forces have also attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea in recent years, prompting international naval deployments and leading some operators to send ships around the Cape of Good Hope instead. Those diversions add time and cost to journeys and feed into freight and insurance rates. The Houthis have said their attacks on shipping were intended to pressure Israel over the war in Gaza.

Control of Mokha matters beyond Yemen's borders. A renewed full-scale war would be devastating for Yemenis, and sustained disruption to traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb would affect energy and goods prices far from the region.