Yemen fighting intensifies as Houthis push towards Bab el-Mandeb Strait

The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday, with government forces launching attacks on Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea and the Houthis firing into neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen's government. The Yemeni government also said it would send more forces to the Red Sea coast after losing the port city of Mokha and an island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait last week.

As the poor country risks sliding into another civil war, the United Nations said more than 82,000 people have been displaced since the start of September. The latest fighting has also raised concern beyond Yemen, with the Houthis moving closer to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and displaced people fleeing across the water to Djibouti.

People fleeing the Houthi advance described scenes of panic and heavy shelling. A woman who fled from Khawkha in Hodeida province said a mortar shell fell nearby as she escaped in the middle of the night, shortly before the town was captured by the Houthis. "I saw with my own eyes cars and buses burning, and bodies of children and women were lying on the road in a horrific scene," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear for her family's safety.