Saudi strike reportedly hits key Yemen port city captured by Houthis

Saudi Arabia launched a strike on the port city of Mokha Tuesday, Yemen’s Houthis said, just over a week after the group seized control of a strait critical to global energy flows.

Meanwhile, G-7 nations called on the Houthis to halt cross-border strikes on Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

The Houthis’ takeover of the country’s Red Sea coast in a dramatic offensive that has left hundreds of people on both sides dead, has also threatened global trade and pushed up energy prices.

Gains made by the Iran-backed Houthis have cemented the hold Tehran and its allies have over two key waterways – the Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz – which top oil and gas exporters, including Saudi Arabia, rely on, and which are key to global shipping generally.

Saudi Arabia has sought to contain the Houthis’ advance by carrying out scores of airstrikes on areas under their control, with the Houthi-affiliated Saba news agency reporting six civilians, including two children killed, in the port city of Mokha.

But the strikes have so far failed to contain the Houthis, who at the weekend carried out an attack targeting the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for the first time in years.

As violence has escalated, thousands of families have been forced from their homes, many of them for a second or third time.

“I hope I can find a house to live in with my children. We’re exhausted by the heat, the dust and the humiliation,” Arwa, a mother of four children, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at a camp for displaced people in the Yemeni city of Aden.

“I hope the situation improves and we can return to our home and our families,” she said.

According to the International Organization for Migration, nearly 130,000 people have been displaced across seven governorates in Yemen as a result of the violence.

‘In good faith’

The Middle East war began in February with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and it has seen the Islamic Republic retaliate with attacks around the region and by mobilizing its allies.

While the Yemen civil war predates the regional conflict, it has become its most active front in recent days.

Fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces has in the past two days killed 154 people, military sources from both sides told AFP.

“The death toll from Saudi airstrikes, clashes and artillery fire in the governorates of Taiz, al-Jawf, Marib and Saada stands at 118,” Houthi military sources claimed, while government sources reported 36 killed in their ranks.

Saudi Arabia’s civil defense agency meanwhile issued a warning of potential danger in the south, the first alert since the Houthis launched an attack on Riyadh over the weekend.

The alert, which asked people to remain indoors and avoid open areas, was lifted a short while later.

G-7 leaders representing Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States said in a statement “we call on the Houthis to immediately cease all military actions.”

“All threats and attacks against civilian shipping, and to return to the political process in good faith,” it added, while calling on Iran “to end its arming of and support for the Houthis.”

UK, France support

Britain has agreed to provide some military support to Saudi Arabia, U.K. Defense Minister Luke Pollard said, while France also pledged to help secure Saudi energy infrastructure, a diplomatic source told AFP.

“This in no way involves taking part in the conflict with the Houthis,” the French source added.

The Houthis have carried out attacks against facilities belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu.

The East-West Pipeline – a crucial crude oil export route — has also been shut down following drone attacks launched from Iraq, according to Riyadh.

The head of Yemen’s governing body Rashad al-Alimi held a call with U.S. President Donald Trump to request American support against the pro-Iranian fighters, a source in Alimi’s office told AFP Monday.

Trump did not promise military support, the source said, adding that the call was intended as a show of solidarity.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also urged Trump to strike the Houthis, U.S. media reported.

The New York Times said the crown prince called Trump Sunday “to implore him, again” to help counter the group’s advances, with Axios previously saying Trump had turned down a similar request last week.

Fox News reported Sunday that Trump had said the Houthis have agreed not to hit U.S. targets.

DAILYSABAH