Pro-govt forces declare curfew in Yemeni port city

By Murad al-Arifi

TAIZ, Yemen

Forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi late Wednesday declared a nighttime curfew in the port city of Mocha, which they captured this week from the Shia Houthi militia.

Omar Dablah, a pro-government military commander, said via Facebook that the curfew would come into effect on Thursday night.

He did not specify, however, exactly what time it would begin or exactly how long it would last.

It was not possible to obtain immediate comment from the Yemeni army regarding the reported curfew.

A pro-Hadi military source told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that pro-government forces had decisively captured Mocha, a strategic port city situated on Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

The development follows one month of fighting during which Houthi militiamen and allied forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh had attempted to maintain their hold on the strategic city.

Early last month, Yemeni government forces -- with the help of a Saudi-led military coalition -- began a campaign to recapture Houthi and pro-Saleh positions in Aden and Taiz (located southeast and northeast of Mocha respectively).

Yemen has been wracked by violence since when the Shia Houthi militia group and pro-Saleh forces overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched an extensive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.