Houthi rebels edged closer to gaining leverage over the Bab al-Mandab strait, one of the world’s most important routes for commodity vessels, four Yemeni government military sources said, as fighting with forces tilts towards a resumption of full-scale war, Reuters reports.
The Houthis were nearing complete control of coastal cities such as the historic port of Mocha and Dhubab that sit directly along the strait, as they push to take over the whole Yemeni Red Sea coast, the sources said.
Bab al-Mandab, or the Gate of Tears, named for its perilous navigation conditions, is the southern outlet of the Red Sea, between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African coast, making it a major prize for the Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous areas and much of the north.
It is one of the world’s most important routes for crude oil and fuel from the Gulf bound for the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal or the SUMED pipeline on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, as well as commodities bound for Asia, including Russian oil.
Blocking the narrow passage would isolate Gulf oil-producing countries such as energy superpower Saudi Arabia from their main shipping routes after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the primary maritime energy artery between Asia and Europe.
