Mukalla, Yemen – When waves of Yemeni government forces started to flee the front lines near al-Khokha, a Red Sea town between Hodeidah and Mocha, two of Saeed Hassan’s sons rushed to alert their father about the unusual troop movements. By that evening of September 9, his sons returned and confirmed that large numbers of soldiers were withdrawing from their positions. Saeed decided to leave his house and see for himself.
By the evening, Saeed decided to flee his home, but first he had to persuade his brother Mohammed and his family to join him. About the same time, a missile hit a nearby camp for displaced people, wounding several. Mohammed’s son Shaker went to see what had happened and narrowly escaped death when another explosion hit the area.
A week earlier, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis had launched one of their largest military offensives against forces loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in the western governorates of Hodeidah and Taiz. The Houthis heavily shelled government-held areas before their fighters advanced. On September 9, government forces withdrew from Mocha, the main base of the government’s National Resistance Forces, allowing the Houthis to seize the coastal city and other areas, including al-Khokha.
The following day, the Houthis completed their offensive on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, essentially taking control of the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Fearing that the Houthis were about to arrive in their town, Saeed’s and Mohammed’s families fled al-Khokha as fast as they could. It had become their home after they were displaced from the countryside near the port of Hodeidah in 2018.
Hodeidah has been a key target of both sides in Yemen’s war since Houthi forces captured the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014, forcing Yemeni government forces to flee south. For Saeed’s and Mohammed’s families, it meant another journey out of a warzone. Mohammed and his wife made a living trading clothes, but they could not carry the piles of merchandise stored at their home.
They took only their documents, some personal clothing and a few other light belongings. The brothers planned to spend the night in neighbouring Mocha before returning to their village the following day to collect the rest of their belongings. But the speed of the Houthi advance forced them to move as soon as possible.
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