Houthis try to push deeper into western Yemen, upending life, witnesses tell NPR

Yemen's Houthi armed forces patrol as Yemeni prisoners loyal to the Houthi authorities arrive in the capital Sanaa on Sep. 12, after being released on the west coast where they were being held by Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces. Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As Houthi fighters swept into the western Yemeni port city of Mokha earlier this month, Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces abandoned their armored vehicles and aid groups say families fled with no time to grab their clothes.

Around 125,000 people were displaced in just a matter of days, says the U.N. World Food Programme.

The U.N. says most healthcare facilities in Mokha immediately shut down, but Mokha's General Hospital remained open as staff treated patients who cannot leave.

"There are pregnant women who need urgent care. There are women who need cesarean sections. There are children who need treatment and patients with medical conditions who simply cannot wait," says Sarah Ahmed, a health promotion supervisor with the aid group, Doctors Without Borders, in Mokha's General Hospital.

In a voice memo shared with NPR by the aid group, she says Mokha's hospital staff are focusing on only the most essential services, including caring for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU.

Even before the latest fighting, which comes after years of civil war, Yemen was among the world's poorest countries. Years of conflict have led to widespread hunger with some 22 million people — half the population — in need of humanitarian aid.

Bayan Yahya Hasan, a Yemeni girl injured in the attack carried out by Iran-backed Houthi militants, receives treatment at a hospital in Mokha, Yemen on Aug. 16, 2026. Abdulnasser Alseddik/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption