Yemen forces reclaim key Red Sea port city from Iran-backed Houthis in major counteroffensive

Yemeni security forces escort buses carrying released Houthi-aligned detainees as they arrive in Sana'a on September 12, 2026.Mohammed Hamoud | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesYemen government forces said they've reclaimed the strategic port city of Mokha from the Iran-backed Houthis, seeking to loosen the militant group's grip on a critically important Red Sea oil route.In a lightning advance, the Saudi Arabia-backed government said Monday that its forces had taken control of Mokha "following fierce battles against Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist militia" and had captured a number of key locations on the coast around Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Yemen government forces said they had also launched a "strategic offensive" on the country's capital of Sanaa, which the Houthis have held since 2014. CNBC could not independently verify the claims. The Houthis have reportedly denied that Mokha had fallen. Situated about 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Mokha is historically known as the region's chief coffee-exporting center, and the source of the term mocha. Along with other key sites, the port city was seized by the Houthis in early September, a development that was ...