Iran-backed Houthi rebels released videos of what they described as the situation at Mokha port after they took over the city. According to Associated Press Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel, aired footage it said shows military facilities, damaged ships and hangars inside port. Houthi officials said Monday that rebels had taken over the two islands just as Saudi-backed government forces tried to claw back territory from the rebels' swift advances around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. Recent fighting between the Iran-backed rebels and government forces in Yemen has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands. Nearly 94,000 people have fled their homes in Yemen since fighting between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and government forces escalated this month, the International Organization for Migration said Monday. The worst-hit areas are Taiz and Lahj, where 48,000 have been displaced, the U.N. agency said, adding that more than 2,000 people have fled across the sea into Djibouti. Around 200 schools have been converted to shelters in southwestern Yemen to absorb an influx of families, the International Rescue Committee, an aid group, said. Fears are mounting that Yemen is inching closer to a return to a civil war that killed 150,000 before a 2022 ceasefire. The World Health Organization said more than 500 people were killed in a weeklong period ending Saturday.
Source: Kanal13
