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.
