Agence France-Presse reported that the Houthis, after a week of advance, took control of the Yemeni section of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, all of the country’s coasts along the Red Sea, and three strategic islands.

A Saudi-backed Yemeni government official told Agence France-Presse that the Houthis had fully secured control of the Bab al-Mandeb area and the island of Mayun. A military official from the Yemeni government also said that the group had captured the large Hanish Island and the small Hanish Island, thereby taking control of all the islands in this waterway and the nearby coasts along the Red Sea.

Earlier, Yahya Sareaq, the military spokesman for the Houthis, announced that passage of ships through the Bab al-Mandeb is safe for all companies except Saudi Arabia’s ships.

The Houthis previously captured the port city of Al-Makhâ and the island of Zaqr to the north of the Bab al-Mandeb, and advanced toward the strait.