ADEN, Yemen (Diya TV) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday as fighting intensified with forces aligned with the internationally recognized government.

The capture was confirmed by Houthi and Yemeni government officials. Mocha is about 50 miles from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and is a major route for international shipping.

The Houthis have also advanced in western Yemen, taking the al-Shaqira area in Taiz province. Yemeni government sources told Reuters that Houthi forces had reached the Hanish islands and pushed government-aligned forces south toward Dhubab, near the Bab el-Mandeb.

The fighting is the most significant territorial escalation since a U.N.-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major combat between the Houthis and government forces.

ACLED recorded at least 276 deaths in fighting between the Houthis and government-aligned forces from Sept. 3 through Sept. 7. The conflict spread across several provinces, including Taiz, Hodeidah, Marib, Shabwah, Al Jawf, Al Bayda and Al Dali.

Yemeni government forces said they carried out airstrikes against Houthi positions and reinforcements. The Houthis have also launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent days. Saudi authorities said those attacks wounded 73 people.

Tareq Saleh, who leads the National Resistance Forces allied with Yemen’s government, ordered his forces on the western coast to establish an alternative command center following the Houthi advance.

The Houthis said commercial navigation through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb remains open, except for Saudi vessels, which the group has said are subject to a blockade.

Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb has already declined substantially since Houthi attacks on vessels began in late 2023. Saudi Arabia has increasingly used its Red Sea port of Yanbu for oil exports as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted by the conflict involving Iran.

Brent crude traded above $100 a barrel Thursday as fighting and disruptions around Middle Eastern shipping routes affected oil markets.

The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Saudi Arabia led a military intervention in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government the following year.