Fighting intensifies in Yemen after Houthi advance on Red Sea coast
In Yemen, on September 13, Yemeni military officials reported airstrikes on Houthi positions in the port city of Mocha, the coastal city of Dhubab and other areas of Taiz province. This followed the Houthis' capture of Mocha and an island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea coast, Asharq Al-Awsat reports.
Sultan al-Aradah, a member of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, described the withdrawal of government forces from the city of Mocha and other areas of the western coast as “painful and regrettable.” According to him, the forces are regrouping and will return to fighting “in one form or another.” Yemen's government also said it intends to send additional forces to the Red Sea coast.
Casualties and combat operations
The government-allied National Resistance forces reported that more than 500 of their fighters had been killed and about 1,500 others wounded on the western coast over the past four weeks. According to the group's assessment, more than 1,000 Houthis were killed in Hodeidah and Taiz provinces. The report provides no independent confirmation of these figures.
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The Houthis also reported strikes by government forces in Taiz and artillery shelling in Saada province, which they control. Saudi Civil Defense said that overnight, a projectile that it said had been fired by the Houthis fell near the border with Yemen on the Red Sea coast. Two people were injured, and a mosque and several other buildings were damaged.
Population displacement
The International Organization for Migration reported on September 13 that more than 82,000 people had been displaced by fighting in Yemen since the beginning of the month. Ahmad al-Masawi, the head of the Al-Salam camp in the southern port city of Aden, appealed for assistance from international organizations, citing harsh conditions for displaced people.
According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 2,000 Yemenis reached Djibouti after crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Djibouti's Minister of Economy and Finance, Ilyas M. Dawaleh, said the country's navy, coast guard and other services are conducting rescue operations and providing emergency assistance to those who have arrived.
