Arabic version: القوات اليمنية تعلن تنفيذ ضربات قرب المخا

According to Al Jazeera, Yemeni government forces said they launched air strikes against Houthi fighters along the Red Sea coast after the group seized full control of the strategic shoreline.

Fighting intensified across several fronts on Saturday, particularly on Yemen’s western coast. Government forces described the confrontation as a “battle for survival”. Yemen’s state news agency, Saba, reported that the armed forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of what it called the Houthi militia near the port city of Mocha.

Government forces spokesperson Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said forces also struck Houthi “vehicles and members” on the Mocha-Dhubab road, 11km from the city, Saba reported. The Houthis captured Mocha on Thursday and Mayun island on Friday, completing their hold on the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a narrow waterway important to global oil shipping.

Saudi Arabia temporarily closed its 1,200km East-West oil pipeline after a drone attack on Friday. The drones were reported to have been launched from Iraq, where an investigation is under way, and no group has claimed responsibility. US Central Command’s head is in Saudi Arabia for talks on the advances, a source told Al Jazeera.