![Houthi fighters have captured Yemen’s Mocha port, approximately 80 kilometres from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. [AP Photo]](https://ocdn.eu/pulscms/MDA_/0eb2de730d9037d929edb23470fdc568.jpg)
Iran-aligned Houthi fighters have captured a strategic Yemeni port near Africa, giving the armed group greater leverage over one of the world’s most important shipping routes as oil prices climbed above $105 a barrel.
- Houthi fighters have captured Yemen’s strategic Mocha port, approximately 80 kilometres from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
- The waterway separates Yemen from the African countries of Djibouti and Eritrea and carries about 12% of global trade.
- The capture gives the Iran-aligned group greater leverage over ships travelling between Asia, Africa and Europe.
- Brent crude rose above $105 a barrel amid the escalation and renewed attacks on global oil routes.
Mocha is approximately 80 kilometres from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which separates Yemen from Djibouti and Eritrea on Africa’s eastern coast.
The strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and forms part of the shortest maritime route between Asia and Europe through Egypt’s Suez Canal. About 12% of global trade normally passes through the waterway.
The Houthis’ takeover of Mocha was confirmed to the Associated Press by Ahmed Baash, a commander with Yemen’s government-allied National Resistance Forces, and Hazam al-Assad, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau.
Yemeni government forces also acknowledged withdrawing south of Mocha after suffering casualties during the Houthi offensive, the Guardian reported.
The capture represents a sharp escalation from the Houthis’ earlier advance towards the port. It is also one of their most significant territorial gains since a United Nations-backed ceasefire reduced major fighting in Yemen in 2022.
DON’T MISS THIS: Houthis advance towards strait separating Yemen from Djibouti, putting 12% of global trade at risk
African shipping route faces new pressure
Bab el-Mandeb is bordered by Yemen on one side and Africa on the other. At its narrowest point, the shipping passage is approximately 26 kilometres wide.
The route carries crude oil, fuel and other goods travelling between the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and Europe.
Ships unable to use the Red Sea and Suez Canal must travel around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, adding time, fuel consumption and transport costs to their journeys.
Mocha’s capture does not mean the Houthis control Bab el-Mandeb. However, control of the port improves their position along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and brings them closer to areas overlooking the strait.
Yemeni military sources told Reuters that Houthi forces had also advanced towards the strategic Hanish Islands.
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The islands lie in the Red Sea between Yemen and Eritrea. Their location makes them important for observing and potentially threatening vessels approaching Bab el-Mandeb.
Government forces were reportedly relocating towards Dhubab, a Yemeni coastal district directly beside the strait, as they attempted to prevent further Houthi advances.
Houthis say Saudi ships are the target
The Houthis said Red Sea navigation remained safe for shipping companies other than those connected to Saudi Arabia.
The group declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia has become increasingly dependent on its Red Sea facilities because fighting involving Iran has severely restricted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Hormuz previously carried approximately one-fifth of global oil supplies. Ship-tracking data showed that only seven vessels crossed it on Wednesday, half its recent ten-day average.
Saudi Arabia has consequently increased exports through Yanbu, its Red Sea oil terminal. Crude oil and condensate loadings from the port reached as much as 3.7 million barrels per day in early September, according to estimates cited by Reuters.
Those shipments must travel south through the Red Sea and pass Bab el-Mandeb to reach buyers in Asia.
DON’T MISS THIS:Red Sea attacks are back. The Houthis are again sinking ships and killing crews.
A stronger Houthi position around the strait could therefore threaten one of Saudi Arabia’s most important alternatives to Hormuz.
Oil rises above $105
Brent crude rose more than 4% to over $105 a barrel on Thursday as traders responded to Mocha’s capture and a series of attacks on ships around the Middle East.
US West Texas Intermediate crude also crossed $100 a barrel.
The price increase cannot be attributed to Mocha alone. Iran had reported attacks on 10 ships around Hormuz after the United States struck five Iranian oil tankers, adding to concerns over global supplies.
However, the capture of Mocha raises the possibility that disruption could affect two major maritime routes on opposite sides of the Arabian Peninsula.
Iran’s influence is an important part of that concern. Tehran supports the Houthis but says it does not control their military decisions.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam described the group’s operations as defensive and said they would stop when attacks on Yemen ended.
Commercial traffic through Bab el-Mandeb had not collapsed before Mocha’s capture. Ship-tracking information showed 28 commodity-vessel movements through the strait on Wednesday, close to the ten-day average of 27.
