DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemeni government forces backed by Gulf Arab troops have secured the Red Sea coast city of al-Mokha, United Arab Emirates news agency WAM reported on Tuesday, in a push that paves the way for an advance on the country’s main port city of Hodeidah.

Supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi have been fighting for weeks to capture the small town, which once served as a main port for exporting coffee, from the Iran-aligned Houthi that has held it since early 2015.

The advance comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran since President Donald Trump came to office in January. U.S. officials said last week that the United States had deployed a Navy destroyer, the USS Cole, to patrol off the coast of Yemen to protect waterways from Houthis, including escorting vessels.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 to try to reinstate Hadi after he was ousted from the capital Sanaa by the tribal Houthis, who are fighting in an alliance with troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

WAM said that local fighters, known as the Yemeni Resistance, stormed the city from the south, east and north. The UAE contingent in the Saudi-led Arab alliance played the main role in liberating al-Mokha through the participation of ground forces and by providing fire power from both the air and the ground as well as intelligence, the agency said.

It said that a large number of Houthi fighters were either killed or taken prisoner.

Residents in the city confirmed the city had been captured but gave no figures on casualties.

STALEMATE

The Houthi-run Saba news agency said air strikes from the Saudi-led coalition struck a market in Mokha killing a number of people and destroying shops, but made no mention of the city falling.

The advance cements Hadi supporters’ control over a large stretch of the Red Sea coast from the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait to al-Mokha and paves the way for an advance on Hodeidah, located some 185 km (115 miles) to the north. Hodeidah is Yemen’s main port for food imports for the country of 26 million people.

Gulf Arab countries are concerned the Houthis are a proxy for their arch-rival Iran - a charge Tehran denies.

They and Hadi’s government say their campaign aims to protect Bab al-Mandeb, through which nearly 4 million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia.

While government forces in the south and east nominally hold most of Yemen’s territory, Hadi has struggled to enforce state authority among various militias, militants and tribes. The Houthis control most of Yemen’s population centers in the northwest including Sanaa.

At least 10,000 people have died in the mostly stalemated Yemeni conflict, which has unleashed a humanitarian crisis in an already desperately poor Arabian Peninsula country.</s>Yemeni rebels say they targeted Saudi capital with missile

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels say they have "successfully" fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh for the first time, and are vowing more attacks on the Saudi capital.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an international coalition against the Houthis and allied Yemeni military units since March 2015. Saudi officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the missile claim.

In a statement posted on the Houthi-run SABA news agency on Monday, the rebels said the missile "targeted" the al-Mazahmiya army base in western Riyadh, around 1,000 kilometers (650 miles) from the rebel-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

In October, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi-fired missile some 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Mecca, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba toward which the world's Muslims pray five times a day.</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Yemen rebel forces killed three Saudi-paid mercenaries in Sanaa province's Nihm district on Tuesday, local media reported, citing a military official.

The Yemeni conflict between Houthi forces that support former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and forces backing President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has been ongoing since 2014.

A Saudi-led coalition, supported by the United States, has been fighting against Houthis since 2015 to re-install the Hadi government.</s>Jeddah — The terrorist attack by Houthi militias on a Saudi frigate last week won’t deter coalition forces from supporting legitimacy in Yemen and from continuing their military operations to help restore the legitimate state authority, said Chief of the General Staff Gen. Abdurrahman Al-Bunyan on Sunday.

He was receiving the warship’s crew of officers and non-commissioned officers when the frigate, “Al-Madinah”, docked at King Faisal Naval Base of the Western Fleet in Jeddah.

The Saudi frigate — which came under attack by Houthi militias off the Hodeida port on Yemen’s western coast — managed to reach Jeddah on schedule despite the terrorist attack, Saudi Press Agency reported.

Gen. Al-Bunyan conveyed to the crew the greetings, thanks and appreciation of Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, for their bravery and courage in repulsing the terrorist attack. He said the suicide terrorist attack has reaffirmed the importance of standing up against the Houthi militias which constitute a regional threat.

Gen. Al-Bunyan said that the use of Yemeni Hodeida port, which is currently being controlled by Houthi militias to launch terrorist operations, is a clear threat to the safety of international navigation lines and to the ships of relief, humanitarian and medical aid docking at the port for the benefit of Yemeni citizens.

He was briefed by the frigate’s commander on the terrorist attack and how it was countered by its crew.

He explained that the frigate was not affected by the attack and continued to patrol and monitor the area of operations and that the frigate’s stern was slightly damaged due to the collision of the Houthi terrorist boat.

Two crew members were killed and three others were wounded in the attack, according to the coalition fighting the Houthis and supporters of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Three Houthi suicide boats attacked the frigate as it patrolled off the Hodeida port on Yemen’s western coast, the coalition said in a statement last month.

One Houthi boat hit the frigate’s tail, causing an explosion and ensuing fire, the coalition said.

Saudi air force units took on the other two boats before they could strike, it said.

The frigate continued operating after the fire was extinguished, it added.

“Houthi militias’ use of Hodeida port as a base to launch terrorist attacks is a serious development that could affect international maritime navigation and the delivery of humanitarian and medical aid to the port and Yemeni citizens,” the coalition said.</s>An autopsy has reportedly shown that top Yemeni investigative journalist Mohammed al-Absi, who died under mysterious circumstances in December, was poisoned.

The journalist died in the Yemeni capital Sana’a after having dinner with a cousin. He was said to have been investigating oil companies and had recently published a series of reports on government corruption.

His death had sparked suspicions from his family and the Yemeni journalists’ union who are now demanding an investigation into his death.

"We are troubled by the passing of Mohamed al-Absi in such unclear circumstances and support his family and the YJS in their demands for a serious and independent investigation in the case as well as an autopsy by a doctor representing the union to clarify the cause of his death," said President of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Philippe Leruth, which has joined the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) in demanding a probe.

Al-Absi was a prominent Yemeni investigative journalist said to have been investigating oil companies owned by Houthi leadership. He had published a series of reports over the past years, focused on corruption, particularly in the energy industry and in relation to arms deals.

Human rights activists are responsible for the claims that Al-Absi was investigating oil and gas companies allegedly operating on the black market. Activists published several documents that were in the journalist’s possession after his death.

One of the published documents concerns Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam, alleging that he owns an oil company that sells on the black market in Houthi-controlled areas.

The autopsy report comes amid an intensifying proxy war being played out in Yemen between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier on Monday, Houthi Shi’ite rebels said they had fired a ballistic missile at a military base in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh. The Saudis have not confirmed this attack. If true, it would be the first time the Houthis fired on Riyadh.

Last week, Saudi Arabia said the Houthis rammed a “suicide gunboat” into a Saudi frigate in the Red Sea, killing two vessel crew.
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Coalition troops take control of the strategic Yemeni port city of Mocha after driving out Houthi forces.