Bab al-Mandab: Yemen warns of Houthi coast grab

Yemen's government has warned that Houthi rebels are planning to seize land along the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a major shipping route at the entrance to the Red Sea.

Information minister Moammar al-Eryani said the Houthis were "working to create the conditions" to control the strait by expanding along Yemen's western coast and trying to control strategic Red Sea islands. He said there had been a Houthi military build-up and cited repeated targeting of ports, docks, civilian infrastructure, ships and government naval capabilities.

Three Houthi military sources told AFP that the group was preparing an operation to seize areas south of Hodeida. They said about 2,000 fighters had been deployed to front lines in the western provinces of Taiz and Hodeida, along with rocket launchers.

Major-General Sadeq Duwaid, spokesman for the government-affiliated National Resistance Forces that control areas bordering the strait, said the Houthis were trying to secure a foothold in Bab al-Mandab through attacks on Mokha and its port.

The Houthis do not currently control coastal areas directly on the strait, but they hold the port city of Hodeida to the north and have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea. In recent weeks, they have targeted Mokha, military sites near the strait and government-controlled Red Sea islands.

Bab al-Mandab connects the Red Sea, and via the Suez Canal the Mediterranean, to the Indian Ocean. Yemen's government says greater Houthi control there would threaten shipping and Saudi oil exports. The waterway has gained importance as a transit route for Saudi oil after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in its war with the United States.

Mohammed al-Basha, of the US-based risk advisory Basha Report, said Houthi attacks on Mokha port pointed to efforts to choke off weapon supplies to government forces on Yemen's western coast and prepare for a push toward Bab al-Mandab.

The Houthis said in July that they were not halting traffic through the strait and that their blockade was limited to Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month, the group denied seeking to charge ships for passage through Bab al-Mandab after Eryani accused it of trying to imitate Iranian efforts to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have disrupted shipping with attacks on passing vessels since the Gaza war broke out in 2023. In July, the group upended a 2022 truce with Yemen's Saudi-backed government, announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships.