Yemeni loyalist forces patrol a highway near the Red Sea port town of Mocha on January 20, 2017.

Mocha: Yemeni government forces captured on Monday the key port of Mocha as they pushed to oust Iran-backed Al Houthi rebels from the Red Sea coastline, an AFP journalist said.

The Iran-backed rebels have received weapons shipments from Iran through this port and liberating it delivers a major blow to the militants.

Government forces were combing the port, a journalist accompanying the troops said, almost three weeks after Yemeni forces launched an offensive against the rebels and their allies on Yemen’s southwestern coast.

An official statement said government forces recaptured the whole city, but a military commander in the field told AFP that the army was still fighting the rebels on the southern outskirts of Mocha.

Mocha has long been famous for its seaport where the country’s internationally-renowned coffee is shipped from.

Yemeni forces fighting in support of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the internationally-recognised president, launched a vast offensive on January 7 to retake the Dhobab district overlooking the Bab Al Mandab strait, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Fighter jets and Apache attack helicopters from a Saudi-led Arab coalition have been pounding the rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces, military sources said.

Al Houthis have controlled Mocha since they overran the capital in September 2014 and advanced on other regions aided by troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The coalition mounted a military campaign against the rebels in March 2015 as insurgents closed in on Hadi in his refuge in the southern city of Aden and forced him to seek exile in Riyadh.

Yemeni forces have since drove rebels out of five southern provinces, including Aden.

The militants have endured heavy losses since Operation Golden Arrow was launched two weeks ago, aimed at liberating the entire Taiz province and cutting off Al Houthis’ arms supplies.

On the political front, UN special envoy to Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, arrived in the Yemeni capital on Sunday to push for a new round of peace talks between the internationally-recognised government and the rebels.

Ould Shaikh Ahmad is expected to meet with senior leaders in the Al Houthi delegation as well as Saleh’s party.

Last week, he briefly visited the port city of Aden where he suggested a new roadmap to Hadi and his government.

Under the new plan, Hadi would retain his powers as president until Al Houthis fully withdraw from occupied territory and disarm. </s> Al Mukalla: Yemen government forces and allied resistance fighters on Sunday retook control of most areas on the outskirts of Mocha, a key Red Sea port town that is under Al Houthi militant control.

The Iran-backed rebels have received weapons shipments from Iran through this port and liberating it will deliver a major blow to the militants.

Yemeni forces are currently battling the rebels on the edges of the strategic town, army commanders and government officials said.

Al Houthis have suffered heavy setbacks along the country’s western coast since January when the government forces gained control of major regions on the Red Sea, denying the rebel movement from using these areas for smuggling arms into the country.

Yemen army spokesperson, Abdo Majili, told Gulf News on Sunday that government forces stormed a small area called Abu Razeq before advancing further towards Mocha.

“Government forces have cautiously targeted Al Houthi military sites in the town to avoid hitting civilians. This is an inhabitant area and the civilians would be harmed if we bombarded it heavily.”

Mocha has long been famous for its seaport where the country’s internationally-renowned coffee is shipped from.

The government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi has accused the rebels of using the seaport to ship in their Iran-sourced weapons.

Army commanders expect tough battles inside the town as rebels have infiltrated residential areas, making it harder to easily target them.

For more than two weeks, government forces along with a number of military advisers from the Saudi-led Arab coalition have battled Al Houthis and renegade army units loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

To slow the government forces’ advances, retreating Al Houthi militants have left behind thousands of landmines, army commanders told Gulf News on Saturday.

The militants have endured heavy losses since Operation Golden Arrow was launched two weeks ago, aimed at liberating the entire Taiz province and cutting off Al Houthis’ arms supplies.

Even as the rebels are virtually on their last legs, Al Houthi media claimed that the leader of the militia’s political council, Saleh Al Samad, had recently met with tribal leaders in Mocha securing a pledge from them to help them fight against government forces.

Meanwhile, UN special envoy to Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, arrived in the Yemeni capital on Sunday to push for a new round of peace talks between the internationally-recognised government and the rebels.

Ould Shaikh Ahmad is expected to meet with senior leaders in the Al Houthi dispensation as well as Saleh’s party. Last week, he briefly visited the port city of Aden where he suggested a new roadmap to Hadi and his government.

Under the new plan, Hadi would retain his powers as president until Al Houthis fully withdraw from occupied territory and disarm. </s> Yemeni government forces captured on Monday the port of Mokha as they pushed to oust Houthi rebels from the Red Sea coastline, an AFP journalist said.

Government forces were combing the port, a journalist accompanying the troops said, almost three weeks after the loyalists launched an offensive against the Houthi rebels and their allies on Yemen’s southwestern coast.

 Original Article </s> Al Mukalla: Yemen government forces backed by heavy air cover from the Saudi-led coalition on Monday took control of the strategic port town of Mocha on the Red Sea after heavy clashes with Al Houthis, two army generals told Gulf News.

Major Mohsen Khasrouf, the chief of Yemen’s Armed Forces Moral Guidance Department, confirmed via telephone interview that government forces stormed the town of Mocha and its strategic seaport from different directions on Monday afternoon and were later combing residential areas looking for hiding militants.

“This is a major milestone in our fighting towards restoring the state from the putschists,” he said. Brigadier General Abdo Majili, Yemen army spokesperson, also confirmed the news.

The current military operation along the western coast kicked off on January 6 when hundreds of army troops and allied resistance fighters marched from the port city of Aden towards strategic coastal regions on the Red Sea.

Al Houthi rebels were unable to stem the advance despite having planted thousands of landmines as they retreated.

The state-run Saba news agency said the deputy of chief staff of Yemen army Major General Ahmad Sayef Al Yafae rang internationally-recognised president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to inform him about the liberation of Mocha.

Commenting about the military significance of the army’s victories on the Red Sea, Khasrouf, who is also a veteran military expert, said rebel forces have lost control of the area where they received weapons shipments from Iran.

“They use some of these weapons in their battles in the city of Taiz. Now, the army can use the same seaport to funnel arms the resistance fighters in the Al Houthi-besieged city,” Khasrouf said.

Yemen forces backed by Saudi-led coalition forces began their offensive, labelled Operation Golden Arrow, two weeks ago, with the aim of liberating the entire Taiz province.

The next phase of the operation focuses on two parallel tracks which would see them march on the city of Hodeida as well as the besieged city of Taiz.

Recent territorial gains by Yemeni forces are primarily due to significant support from the Saudi-led coalition which has supplied them modern weapons as well as advised them on battlefield tactics. </s> MOKHA, Yemen: Yemeni government forces captured on Monday the port of Mokha as they pushed to oust Huthi rebels from the Red Sea coastline, an AFP journalist said.

Government forces were combing the port, a journalist accompanying the troops said, almost three weeks after the loyalists launched an offensive against the insurgents and their allies on Yemen’s southwestern coast. An official statement said government forces recaptured the whole city, but a military commander in the field told AFP that loyalists were still fighting the rebels on the southern outskirts of Mokha.

Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi launched a vast offensive on January 7 to retake the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Warplanes and Apache attack helicopters from a Saudi-led Arab coalition have been pounding the rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces, military sources said. The rebel’s media arm claimed however that insurgent fighters repelled loyalist troops as they advanced on the village of Jadid, some 10 kilometres south of Mokha.

More than 150 fighters from both sides have been killed in the battle for the coastline since the government offensive was launched on January 7. Huthis have controlled Mokha since they overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014 and advanced on other regions aided by troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The coalition mounted a military campaign against the rebels in March 2015 as insurgents closed in on Hadi in his refuge in the southern city of Aden and forced him to seek exile in Riyadh. Loyalists have since drove rebels out of five southern provinces, including Aden. But despite its massively superior firepower, the rebels and their allies still control Sanaa and much of the central and northern highlands, as well most of the 450-kilometre Red Sea coast.

Yemeni loyalists seize Red Sea port of Mokha was posted in World of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on January 24, 2017 and was last updated on January 24, 2017. This news story is related to Print/181373-Yemeni-loyalists-seize-Red-Sea-port-of-Mokha/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Yemeni loyalists seize Red Sea port of Mokha" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/181373-Yemeni-loyalists-seize-Red-Sea-port-of-Mokha. </s> The Yemeni army said it has taken full control of Mokha, a port city southwest of the capital Sanaa which had been taken by Houthi rebels in November 2014.

Brigade General Ahmed Seif al-Yafai said in press remarks on Monday that his forces entered Mokha, where dozens of families were seen fleeing days of clashes and bombardment.

Government forces were combing the port, an AFP news agency journalist accompanying the troops said.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war nearly two years ago to back President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after he was overthrown from the capital Sanaa by Houthi forces.

READ MORE: Yemen's orphans face 'catastrophe' as fighting rages

The latest development came almost three weeks after the Hadi loyalists launched an offensive against the rebels and their allies on Yemen's southwestern coast.

Warplanes and Apache attack helicopters from a Saudi-led Arab coalition have been pounding the rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces, military sources told AFP.

'Weapons smuggling'

Government forces said the rebels were using the port in Mokha to smuggle weapons into Yemen.

At least 10,000 people have died in the mostly stalemated Yemeni conflict, which has unleashed a humanitarian crisis in the already poor Arabian Peninsula country.

While government forces in the south and east nominally hold most of Yemen's territory, Hadi has struggled to enforce state authority among various armed groups and tribes.

The Houthi rebels control most of Yemen's population centres in the northwest, including Sanaa.

Gulf Arab countries say the Houthi rebels are a proxy for their archrival Iran - a charge Tehran denies.

They and Hadi's government say their campaign aims to protect the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the strategic waterway at the foot of the Red Sea through which nearly four million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the US and Asia. </s> Yemeni government forces captured on Monday the port of Mokha as they pushed to oust Houthi rebels from the Red Sea coastline, an AFP journalist said.

Government forces were combing the port, a journalist accompanying the troops said, almost three weeks after the loyalists launched an offensive against the Shiite insurgents and their allies on Yemen’s southwestern coast.

An official statement said government forces recaptured the whole city, but a military commander in the field told AFP that loyalists were still fighting the rebels on the southern outskirts of Mokha.

Forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi launched a vast offensive on Jan. 7 to retake the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Warplanes and Apache attack helicopters from a Saudi-led Arab coalition have been pounding the rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces, military sources said.

The rebel’s media arm claimed, however, that insurgent fighters repelled loyalist troops as they advanced on the village of Jadid, some 10 km (6.2 miles) south of Mokha.

More than 150 fighters from both sides have been killed in the battle for the coastline since the government offensive was launched on Jan. 7.

Houthis have controlled Mokha since they overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014 and advanced on other regions aided by troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The coalition mounted a military campaign against the rebels in March 2015 as insurgents closed in on Hadi in his refuge in the southern city of Aden and forced him to seek exile in Riyadh.

Loyalists have since drove rebels out of five southern provinces, including Aden.

But despite its massively superior firepower, the rebels and their allies still control Sanaa and much of the central and northern highlands, as well most of the 450-km (280-mile) Red Sea coast.

United Nations peace envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed visited Sanaa on Sunday for talks and to push a peace plan that would restore a cease-fire and lead to a political transition in the country.

The plan would lead to a political transition under which Hadi’s powers would be significantly reduced.

Seven cease-fires brokered by the United Nations have failed and U.N.-backed peace talks have repeatedly broken down.

The World Health Organization says that more than 7,400 people have been killed since the coalition intervention began.

A U.N. spokesman has said the civilian death toll alone could top 10,000. </s> Aden: Yemen’s deputy chief of staff was killed yesterday when Al Houthi militia battling government forces fired a ballistic missile at an army camp on the Red Sea coast, according to a military source.

Army deputy chief of staff Major General Ahmad Saif Al Yafii was killed by a heat-seeking missile on the outskirts of the strategic coastal town of Mocha, the source told AFP.

“Major General Ahmad Saif Al Yafei was killed along with several others when the missile hit the camp near Al [Mocha] city early this morning,” a military source, who is also a member of the general’s family, told Reuters.

Yemeni government forces captured Mocha from the Iran-allied Al Houthis last month.It was their biggest success in months. The town lies close to the Bab Al Mandab strait.

The rebels still hold the capital, Sana’a, and much of the central and northern highlands as well as the coast around Hodeida.

Before the 19th Century, Mocha was Yemen’s main port and export hub for coffee grown in the highlands, and its historical symbolism meant it was fiercely fought over.

Its role was overtaken by Hodeida and second city, Aden, where the government is based.

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) humanitarian coordinator in the country warned on Tuesday that seven million Yemenis are closer than ever to starvation.

“Seven million Yemenis do not know where their next meal will come from and are ever closer to starvation” in the country of 27 million people, Jamie McGoldrick said.

“Over 17 million people are currently unable to adequately feed themselves and are frequently forced to skip meals — women and girls eat the least and last,” he said in a statement.

Yemen’s war pits the internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi against Al Houthi rebels allied with forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, intervened in Yemen’s civil war nearly two years ago to back President Hadi after he was ousted from the capital, Sana’a, by Houthi forces.

The fighting has intensified since the coalition intervened in March 2015.

Since early January, pro-government forces have pressed a major offensive aimed at recapturing Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, and retook the southwestern port of Mocha earlier this month.

“I am deeply concerned with the escalation of conflict and militarisation of Yemen’s western coast.

“It is coming at a great cost to civilians,” McGoldrick said.

Unexploded rockets have landed inside the rebel-held port of Hodeida, he said, “reducing even further the number of ships and imports” vital for Yemen’s food supplies.

“Given that the country is 80-90 per cent dependent on imported food staples, I am compelled to raise the alarm,” the UN official said.

“If left unabated, these factors combined could accelerate the onset of famine.”

Also on Tuesday, the United Nations children’s agency warned that 462,000 children were suffering from acute malnutrition.

The UN aid chief warned last month that the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country was sliding deeper into humanitarian crisis and could face famine this year.

Stephen O’Brien said that without “immediate action”, famine was “a possible scenario for 2017.”

More than 7,400 people have been killed since the intervention began nearly two years ago, including around 1,400 children, according to the United Nations. </s> ADEN — Yemeni army forces backed by Gulf Arabs fought their way into the Red Sea coast city of Al-Mokha on Monday, military officials said, pushing out Iran-allied Houthi militia.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war nearly two years ago to back President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi after he was ousted from the capital Sanaa by Houthi forces.

The National Army loyal to Hadi entered the port area on Mokha’s southwestern edge, an army official said.

“Houthi forces began withdrawing this morning, and the city is nearly abandoned after most of its residents departed,” the official said.

“The city and the port under the control of national army.”

Army forces and a group of militias called the Southern Resistance launched an offensive on the Red Sea coast this month to deprive the Houthis of ports and to isolate them in the inland capital.

The smaller coastal town of Al-Dhubab has been recaptured in the thrust, which has been backed by scores of air strikes and a small contingent of troops and tanks.

Coalition forces and Hadi’s government say their campaign aims to protect the Bab Al-Mandeb strait, the strategic waterway at the foot of the Red Sea through which nearly 4 million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia.
The Yemeni Army claims to have recaptured the port city of Mocha from Houthi rebels.