Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces said on Saturday (September 12, 2026) that they had struck Iran-allied Houthi fighters in the Red Sea city of Mocha, as the number of civilians forced to flee the renewed fighting soared.
U.S. news site Axios reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had twice called U.S. President Donald Trump to request American strikes on the Houthis last week but the request was rejected.
“We fled wearing the clothes on our backs. And we took our children, as much as we could manage.” Saudi Arabia first entered the war on the side of Yemen’s internationally recognised government in 2015 and continues to support the Aden-based administration. On Saturday night (September 12, 2026), Saudi authorities said a Houthi projectile fell in an area near the border, hours after issuing alerts warning of the risk of possible attacks. The fall of Mocha to the Houthis on Thursday (September 10, 2026) drove many residents to Aden, where the internationally recognised government is based.
The government news agency Saba reported on Saturday (September 12, 2026) that Yemeni “forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia” near the port of Mocha, and quoted a spokesman for the forces as saying they had also struck Houthi targets just outside the city. The Houthis, meanwhile, said on Saturday evening (September 12, 2026) that over the past 48 hours, “Saudi enemy aircraft conducted 129 airstrikes” on areas under their control. The civil defence directorate said the incident resulted “in two injuries and material damage to a mosque, several buildings, and vehicles”. One of the displaced, Abdulali al-Rajihi, said the Houthis “told us: ‘Leave, scatter, you have half an hour'”.
