KABUL (Pajhwok): Reports indicate that Yemen’s Houthis have taken control of the country’s entire Red Sea coastline following a rapid advance against forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government and have also reached islands in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Al Jazeera reported that the Houthis had seized the last coastal areas under the control of Yemeni government forces, a development that increases the group’s influence over Bab-ul-Mandeb, one of the world’s major maritime shipping routes.
According to the report, Yemeni government sources told Reuters that Houthi forces had reached the Dhubab area on the coast of Bab-ul-Mandeb.
Government officials also said that, following the withdrawal of government forces, boats carrying Houthi fighters had reached Mayyun Island, also known as Perim Island, in the middle of the Bab-ul-Mandeb Strait.
A source also told Agence France-Presse that the Houthis had completed their takeover of the Bab el-Mandeb area.
However, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Sana’a said that the Houthi authorities had not yet officially announced that they had taken control of Bab el-Mandeb.
The Houthis had also captured the port city of Mokha on Thursday before advancing farther south toward areas and islands near Bab-ul-Mandeb.
Bab-ul-Mandeb connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea and is one of the world’s major routes for the transportation of goods and energy.
The route has become increasingly important in recent months as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been restricted. Before the outbreak of the US-Iran war, around one-fifth of the world’s energy shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
The developments have increased concerns over the security of shipping in the Red Sea and the potential impact on global energy markets.
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