Yemen’s Houthis have launched a major ground assault around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea chokepoint that has become vital for Saudi oil exports during the Middle East war.
With hundreds dead in fighting, and the Houthis exchanging strikes and counter-strikes with Saudi Arabia, AFP examines the flashpoint waterway that is normally one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
‘Gate of Tears’
Known as the “Gate of Tears” in Arabic because of its history of shipwrecks, the strait sits at the southern tip of the Red Sea, connecting it with the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean.
About 100 kilometres long and just 30km wide at its narrowest point, it separates Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula from Djibouti and Eritrea on the Horn of Africa.
