Foreign Relations

Yemen Warns Houthis Are Massing 2,000 Fighters to Seize the Bab al-Mandab Coast

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Courtroom-sketch editorial illustration of the armed Houthi rally behind the warning about a push for the Bab al-Mandab coast: a dense crowd of men presses toward the viewer under a bright clouded sky, a young man at the centre of the frame throws his head back and shouts with his mouth wide open, the fighters around him thrust Kalashnikov rifles and curved jambiya daggers overhead, an older bearded man in a patterned headscarf and heavy robe grips a rifle barrel at the right of the group, and a

Yemen's government says the Iran-backed Houthis are preparing a ground offensive to seize the Bab al-Mandab coastline. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the militia is expanding along the western coast and trying to seize strategic Yemeni islands in the Red Sea. Houthi military sources said about 2,000 fighters and rocket launchers have been sent to front lines in Taiz and Hodeida provinces for an operation south of Hodeida. Major-General Sadeq Duwaid of the National Resistance Forces said strikes on Mokha and its port aim to make the strait resemble the Strait of Hormuz. The rebels have attacked passing vessels in the corridor since 2023, including ships linked to Israel.

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