DUBAI: Loyalist Yemeni troops and Gulf Arab forces on Thursday seized control of the Arabian side of the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden from Houthi rebels, a spokesman for the Gulf-backed government said.
Six months of war in Yemen has raised fears for the security of oil supplies through Bab Al-Mandab, a main thoroughfare for vessels heading for the United States or Europe from Asia or the Gulf. Its western shore is controlled by Djibouti and Eritrea.
“In a large-scale military operation launched today, Yemeni government, resistance and coalition forces liberated the Bab Al-Mandab Strait and Mayun island with the goal of safeguarding this key sea route,” Rajeh Badi told Reuters by telephone from the southern port city of Aden, 170 km to the east.
Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, who returned to Aden in mid-September after months of exile in Saudi Arabia, later said on his Twitter account:
“On this day, with support from the armed militias, we were victorious. Mayun and Bab Al-Mandab, before them Marib, and soon, God willing, Taiz and the rest of the cities.”
In 2013, more than 3.4 million barrels of oil per day passed through the 20 km wide Bab Al-Mandab, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the war in March to try to restore Yemen’s legitimate government after it was forced into exile by the Houthis, and contain Iran’s growing influence in their backyard. The UAE said on Thursday that one of its soldiers had died from wounds sustained in Yemen in August.
Yemen government troops seize control of Bab Al-Mandab Strait
