Two displaced Yemeni families flee Houthi advance, trek from al-Khokha to Mukalla

When Houthi fighters launched a major offensive in September, government troops pulled back from Mocha and the coastal town of al-Khokha, prompting Saeed Hassan, his brother Mohammed and their extended families to flee with only what they could carry. Along the road they witnessed abandoned weapons, missile strikes on displaced-person camps, and soldiers discarding uniforms to avoid capture. Mechanical problems, a blown tire and lack of food and water forced them to rely on occasional aid from passing drivers and a sympathetic soldier.

After spending a night in an empty Mocha, they joined a convoy of retreating forces toward Aden, where they stayed in a crowded shelter before finding a three-room flat in Mukalla. The families now subsist on limited savings, rent, and occasional labor, while the government’s displacement unit reports tens of thousands more people displaced by the recent Red Sea offensive.