• Yemen’s side of Bab al-Mandab, Mayyun, Hanish islands seized; group says all shipping safe except for Saudi vessels• Saudi Arabia strikes Mocha airport as counter-offensive looms• Trump ‘rejects’ Riyadh’s request for US strikes against Houthis, Axios reports• CDF Munir, Iranian FM discuss escalating crisis
SANAA: Houthi fighters have taken control of Yemen’s side of the Bab al-Mandab strait and seized a string of Red Sea islands, consolidating their grip on one of the world’s most important shipping corridors as the wider Middle East war intensifies.
The Houthis captured Mayyun Island, also known as Perim, which sits in the middle of the narrow waterway, along with the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands, according to officials from Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government.
A military official said all territory previously held by government forces along the western coast had fallen.
The takeover hands the Houthis control of the Yemeni side of Bab al-Mandab, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
