Houthi forces have taken control of the port city of Al-Makha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait

🔸Reports from Yemen indicate that the Iran-backed Houthi forces, on Thursday, 19 Shahrivar, with an advance in western Yemen, were able to seize the port of Al-Makha, which is located overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

🔸Four military sources from the Yemeni government, in an interview with Reuters, confirmed that the Houthis have taken control of the historical city of Al-Makha.

🔸Al-Makha is located about 75 kilometers north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and this advance could increase the group’s influence over the strait, one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

🔸Media outlets close to the Houthis had said earlier that the group’s forces had seized the “Khalid ibn al-Walid” garrison and the junction leading to the port of Al-Makha in the Taiz province.

🔸Reuters sources said that the Houthis have also begun attacks against the strategic Red Sea islands of “Hanish,” and that government forces and their allies are withdrawing and redeploying in the south, in the area of Dhubab.

🔸According to these sources, controlling Dhubab and the island of Perim is of key importance for taking control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

🔸In recent days, clashes between Saudi-backed Yemeni forces—which are aligned with the internationally recognized government—and the Houthis have intensified, creating a second front of a war related to Iran that could threaten global energy supplies.

🔸Read the full version of this report on the Radio Farda website.