Saudi-Backed Yemeni Forces Claim Control Of Strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces said they had secured control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after a rapid advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, forcing Iran-backed Houthi fighters out of most of the areas they seized last month.

The forces reached the outskirts of the coastal city of Mocha late on Monday, while Houthi fighters were retreating towards the highlands, according to four Yemeni government sources. The Defence Ministry said Mocha had fallen.

The reported advance has put the strategic waterway at the centre of Yemen’s renewed conflict. Bab el-Mandeb is a vital route for international shipping between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean and facilitates about 12% of global trade. Its security has become more significant as Gulf energy exports have already been restricted by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis rejected the claims, saying they were baseless and describing reports of government advances as “completely untrue”.

Saudi-backed forces had already captured key positions in the Dhubab district at the mouth of Bab el-Mandeb, including an airstrip.

Saudi Arabia said it had deployed more than 100 fighter jets on Monday and secured “air protection” of the strategic strait. Riyadh said it had attacked hundreds of targets to provide air cover for the Bab el-Mandeb and Yemeni ground forces.

The Yemeni government said its forces had launched attacks on several fronts, including in Sanaa province.

The Houthi-run health ministry said two people had been killed and seven wounded in strikes on the Sanhan and Sa’wan districts of Sanaa province.

The government offensive comes after weeks of fighting in Yemen following the revival of a dormant civil war as a spillover from the US-Iran conflict.

The Houthis, who have controlled many of Yemen’s most populous areas, including the capital Sanaa, since 2014, have sought to control the Bab el-Mandeb and have fired missiles and drones at Saudi cities and infrastructure.

Recapturing the coastal area around the strait would make it harder for the Houthis to disrupt shipping through the waterway. However, they could still attack vessels with drones from positions farther up the coast and inland.

While government forces advanced towards Mocha, the Houthis made gains near the city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen.

Five Yemeni government military sources said Houthi fighters had gained sections of a mountain road leading towards Taiz, potentially leaving government forces in the city besieged. Another government source denied that the road had been cut.

The Houthi fighters made new advances into the town of al-Turbah on Sunday night, according to the five government military sources, although another government source disputed the claim.

A Houthi-run news agency on Monday quoted a military source as saying the group had driven government forces from the al-Mawasit district of Taiz province and reached the home of Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s interim presidential council.

The advances left Taiz surrounded by Houthi forces, according to the government military sources.

Taiz is Yemen’s third-largest city, with a population of more than half a million, and has a garrison of thousands of government fighters.

The city has remained on the frontlines since the early stages of the civil war and has frequently faced Houthi shelling and sniper fire. Last week, Houthi attacks damaged a culvert on the Taiz-Aden road, making the road impassable.

In the al-Mudhaffar area, just outside Taiz but inside territory besieged by the Houthis, residents formed a long queue at a petrol station on Monday while waiting for fuel and cooking gas canisters.

References: abc, business standard