ADEN, YEMEN (VINnews) — Iran-backed Houthi forces seized the historic Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday, Yemeni government officials said, tightening the group’s hold on territory along one of the world’s most important shipping corridors.

The capture of Mocha, also known as Mokha or al-Makha, came after days of intensified fighting with Saudi-backed government forces. Officials said Houthi fighters pushed government units out of the city and its port in southwestern Taiz province and forced them to withdraw south toward Dhubab.

Mocha sits less than 70 kilometers (about 43 miles) north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow passage linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Control of the city gives the Houthis a stronger foothold closer to the chokepoint than their long-held positions farther north around Hodeidah.

Yemeni government military sources told international news agencies the Houthis were also pressing attacks toward Dhubab and the Hanish islands and seeking control of the full Yemeni Red Sea coastline. Government-aligned commander Lt. Gen. Tareq Saleh said his forces had taken casualties and that he had ordered troops to reorganize and set up an alternative command center in consultation with the Saudi-led coalition.

The Bab al-Mandab Strait carries a large share of global oil, fuel and other cargo moving between Asia, the Gulf and Europe via the Suez Canal. Analysts said the advance raises the risk that the Iran-backed group could more easily threaten commercial shipping already targeted in previous Houthi campaigns.

Fighting along Yemen’s western coast has displaced thousands of families in recent days, local officials said. Saudi airstrikes were also reported across several provinces, including Taiz and Hodeidah. The flare-up is among the sharpest since a 2022 U.N.-brokered truce largely froze Yemen’s civil war.

The Houthis control Sanaa and most of northern Yemen. They have used Red Sea positions to fire on commercial vessels and, at times, targets in Israel, tying their campaign to the wider regional conflict involving Iran. Officials warned that further gains near the strait would increase leverage over a route that has grown even more important amid disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz.

Houthi officials did not immediately comment. The situation remained fluid Thursday as government forces regrouped farther south.