Saudi-Backed Yemeni Forces Claim Mokha and Bab el-Mandeb Gains Amid Competing Frontline Reports
Yemen’s government says its forces have seized Mokha and advanced along the coast to secure Bab el-Mandeb, while Houthi-aligned Ansarallah reports counter-attacks and gains around the same strait.
Claims of new territorial gains around Yemen’s Bab el-Mandeb Strait point to a shifting but highly contested front at the southern gateway to the Red Sea.
Yemen’s state news agency, citing a military source, said government forces have taken control of the coastal city of Mokha in western Taiz province after heavy fighting with Houthi forces. According to this account, operations to clear remaining Houthi positions in and around the city are ongoing.
Mapping shared by observers shows forces supported by Saudi Arabia, marked in blue, advancing toward Mokha and toward Dhubab, a town that influences access to Bab el-Mandeb. According to Saudi sources cited in that analysis, these forces have gained control of Mokha, the nearby port city of Al-Mokha, Bab el-Mandeb itself and Dhubab, and say Houthi units have withdrawn from those areas.
Other reports from the same coastal sector describe Aden-aligned forces launching a counter-offensive, regaining control of Bab el-Mandeb and Dhubab airport, and reducing a salient around Taiz, although they note there is still no complete physical separation on that front.
Houthi-aligned Ansarallah offers a starkly different picture. One report says its fighters have recaptured Murad at Bab al-Mandab, reversing earlier advances by government forces. Another says Ansarallah has launched counter-attacks along the coast to recapture Bab el-Mandeb and suggests that a physical siege of Taiz city appears close to completion, though some claimed gains around Taiz remain unconfirmed.
These competing battlefield narratives underline how fluid and opaque the situation is along the coast. Both sides describe intense fighting and maneuvering around the same strategic nodes but disagree on who holds key ground at any given moment.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean. While the reports do not detail direct effects on shipping, control of Mokha, Dhubab and adjacent coastline shapes where ground forces can deploy anti-ship weapons, drones and surveillance systems near one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.
On the ground, each shift of control in Mokha and surrounding areas means new checkpoints, altered supply routes and renewed risk of shelling or airstrikes for civilians who have already seen these front lines move back and forth.
A separate report on tactics used in the wider conflict notes that Ansar Allah fighters have carried out multiple first-person-view (FPV) drone strikes against Presidential Leadership Council forces on several fronts, using “Shawaz” FPV drones armed with PG-2 and PG-7 high-explosive anti-tank RPG warheads.
To understand how far the current offensive has actually reshaped control of Bab el-Mandeb, the next crucial evidence will be independent geolocation and satellite imagery confirming who holds Mokha, Dhubab and surrounding high ground, along with any change in reported attacks on commercial vessels transiting nearby waters and adjustments in regional naval patrol patterns.
Sources
- OSINT