Houthi fighters seized the strategic Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the city of Dhubab in the western Taiz province on Friday, a Yemeni government military source told Anadolu.<\/p>\n
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Houthis had taken control of the island, known in Arabic as Mayyun.<\/p>\n
The takeover means the group has completed its control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the source added.<\/p>\n
Neither the Houthis nor the Yemeni government had officially commented on the reported takeover as of 1030GMT.<\/p>\n
Perim Island holds exceptional strategic importance because of its location in the middle of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, where it divides the waterway into two channels.<\/p>\n
The takeover is likely to heighten regional and international concerns over maritime security and the movement of commercial vessels and energy tankers through Bab al-Mandab.<\/p>\n
In the same context, the source said the Houthis had seized Dhubab in Taiz province, prompting Yemeni government forces to withdraw to the southwestern province of Lahij.<\/p>\n
Dhubab is a coastal city overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and its capture strengthens Houthi control over the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n
The strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is one of the world\u2019s most important routes for international trade and energy shipments.<\/p>\n
The Houthis seized the entire western province of Al-Hudaydah after entering Hays and Al-Khawkhah. They also advanced through the western Taiz province and captured Red Sea coastal cities, including Mokha, extending their reach to the Bab al-Mandab Strait.<\/p>\n
Government forces, meanwhile, made advances in the northern Al-Jawf province and moved closer to Al-Hazm, the provincial capital, while clashes continued on fronts in Marib, Al-Bayda and Al-Dhale provinces.<\/p>\n
Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014. A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Houthi fighters seized the strategic Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the city of Dhubab in the western Taiz province on Friday, a Yemeni government military source told Anadolu. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Houthis had taken control of the island, known in Arabic as Mayyun. The takeover […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6536,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6534\/revisions\/6536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}