Houthis tighten grip on Yemen’s Red Sea coast: Reports — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): Reports indicate that Yemen’s Houthis have taken control of the country’s entire Red Sea coastline following a rapid advance against forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government and have also reached islands in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Al Jazeera reported that the Houthis had seized the last coastal areas under the control of Yemeni government forces, a development that increases the group’s influence over Bab-ul-Mandeb, one of the world’s major maritime shipping routes. According to the report, Yemeni government sources told Reuters that Houthi forces had reached the Dhubab area on the coast of Bab-ul-Mandeb. Government officials also said that, following the withdrawal of government forces, boats carrying Houthi fighters had reached Mayyun Island, also known as Perim Island, in the middle of the Bab-ul-Mandeb Strait. A source also told Agence France-Presse that the Houthis had completed their takeover of the Bab el-Mandeb area. However, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Sana’a said that the Houthi authorities had not yet officially announced that they had taken control of Bab el-Mandeb. The Houthis had also captured the port city of Mokha on Thursday before advancing farther south toward areas and islands near Bab-ul-Mandeb. Bab-ul-Mandeb connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea and is one of the world’s major routes for the transportation of goods and energy. The route has…