Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen have taken control of the country’s entire Red Sea coastline, a military official from the internationally recognised government told AFP on Friday.
The development would further consolidate the group’s control over a strategically vital maritime route.
The official said that all territory previously held by government forces along Yemen’s western coast had been “lost” after the Houthis seized the strategic island of Mayyun, as well as the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The Bab al-Mandab is a strategically important maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean.
According to the official, the territorial gains form part of efforts by the Houthis to cut off Saudi Arabian oil exports.
