The Iran-backed Houthi group expanded on Friday its control on the western coast of Yemen, reaching wide areas of the Dhubab district, which directly overlooks the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Militants also captured Mayyun Island and the Hanish Islands archipelago and Zuqar Island in the Red Sea. The developments raise the risks surrounding one of the most important strategic waterways in the world, a day after the Houthis seized Mokha city and its strategic port. The Houthis seized control of wide areas in Dhubab, including the Bab al-Mandeb area, following heavy shelling against government forces, which were forced to retreat toward the southern outskirts of the district. With the group's arrival in these areas, its deployment now extends over a wide coastal and island area directly connected to the waterway that separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis entered Mayyun Island, located in the heart of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, and deployed there without resistance, following the withdrawal of naval military forces from the island, according to field sources. Warplanes launched raids on Houthi targets in the Mokha district, in an attempt to contain the progress achieved by the group during the past days. The Yemeni government called for international support. In a statement Friday from a meeting the previous day, its National Defense Council said it was on the front line of defending freedom of navigation and condemned the Houthis’ renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia. The council stressed that the battle is not about controlling individual positions or districts, but rather about restoring state institutions and its sovereignty, warning against turning the coasts and islands into platforms to threaten Yemen, the countries of the region, and international navigation. The council said that Yemen, in its defense of Bab al-Mandeb, its coasts, islands, and territorial waters, is not defending itself only, but rather the freedom of navigation, maritime security, and the stability of world trade. It called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council and countries overlooking the Red Sea, to bear their responsibilities to prevent turning Bab al-Mandeb and Yemeni coasts and islands into leverage for blackmail or platforms of threat to international navigation and trade.
