NEWS
Yemeni Forces Claim Control of Bab al-Mandab Strait as Red Sea Conflict Escalates
The conflict in Yemen has taken a dramatic turn following reports that the Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) have advanced across strategic areas of the Red Sea coast and claimed control of several islands surrounding the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s most important maritime gateways.
According to reports emerging on September 10, the Yemeni forces stormed multiple Red Sea islands, including the UAE-occupied island of Mayun, while also advancing toward the entrance of the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The developments came after the YAF reportedly captured the coastal city of Mokha from forces aligned with Saudi Arabia and the Aden-based Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), although Ansarallah had not independently confirmed all reports concerning the island operations at the time of publication.
Mayun, also known as Perim Island, occupies a strategically important position in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Reports have previously indicated that the UAE established military and intelligence facilities on the island and other locations around Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, with alleged cooperation involving Israel.
Two military sources from Yemen’s Saudi-backed Aden government told Reuters that Ansarallah had reached the Hanish Islands in the Red Sea, while AFP reported that Zuqar Island had also been seized.
Local sources cited by Qatari broadcaster Al-Araby TV further reported that Ansarallah-led forces had taken control of Mayun Island, located directly within the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB also reported the development, stating: “With the fall of the Al-Ardhiya area and the entry of Yemen’s armed forces into the area, Ansarallah has officially gained control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait,”
The broadcaster further declared: “Ansarallah’s control of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait means that Yemen’s armed forces now have full control over the security of navigation and commercial shipping in the Red Sea,”
Yemeni media subsequently reported what they described as the full capture of the Bab al-Mandab area, raising fresh concerns over the security of one of the world’s most strategically significant maritime passages.
The Bab al-Mandab connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean and serves as a major route for international energy and commercial shipping. Its strategic importance means that any sustained military confrontation around the waterway could have consequences extending far beyond Yemen.
Despite the reports of territorial gains, officials in the Sanaa-based government sought to reassure maritime operators that shipping remained secure.
“Maritime navigation is safe, and the security of navigation has nothing to do with the skirmishes that were extinguished in the western coast districts,” Deputy Foreign Minister of the Sanaa government Abdul Wahid Abu Ras was quoted as saying by SABA news agency.
Top Yemeni negotiator and spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam similarly said “Red Sea navigation is safe” and that “operations will cease when the aggression ends.”
Explaining the military activities along the coast, Abdul Salam added: “What the YAF has carried out in certain coastal areas is a national operation within the framework of asserting Yemeni sovereignty and addressing the challenges and ambitions that threaten civil peace,”
The reported advances followed several days of intense clashes between Ansarallah and Saudi-backed forces affiliated with the Aden-based PLC. The fighting has reportedly inflicted significant losses on the Saudi-backed formations, while Yemeni forces have simultaneously targeted remnants of UAE-backed militias operating in the country.
Al-Masirah TV reported on Thursday evening: “The western coast fronts have witnessed intense fighting amid movements by Saudi enemy-backed forces, prompting the YAF to target these formations in the area with drones and ballistic missiles,”
The escalation also coincided with an announcement by Yemen’s Supreme Political Council declaring an end to fighting along the western coast and stating that Saudi-backed troops had been “expelled” from the region.
Another major development involved the reported liberation of Yemeni prisoners held in facilities controlled by PLC forces along the coast.
According to Al-Masirah TV, Yemeni forces stormed PLC prisons where Yemeni soldiers and resistance fighters were allegedly being held on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
Abdul Qader al-Murtadha, head of the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, was quoted as saying that the YAF “succeeded in liberating all army prisoners from Saudi enemy detention facilities on the western coast.”
Meanwhile, the Yemeni military announced that it had shot down a Saudi military drone and claimed that more than 60 Saudi airstrikes had been carried out against Yemen within a 24-hour period.
The developments came just one day after Yemeni missile strikes reportedly targeted Saudi military and energy infrastructure inside the kingdom, following a series of attacks claimed by Sanaa against Saudi-linked targets.
Sanaa has described its latest escalation as retaliatory action following Saudi Arabia’s July attack on Sanaa International Airport. The airport has remained subject to a Saudi-led blockade for more than a decade, dating back to Riyadh’s military intervention in Yemen in 2015 as part of an Arab coalition.
The conflict has continued despite a Saudi-Yemeni peace process in 2023 that came close to producing an agreement between the opposing sides. Although the negotiations eventually stalled, they helped prevent a major escalation for a period.
However, tensions have persisted, with Sanaa accusing Saudi Arabia of continuing military operations and maintaining restrictions affecting Yemeni ports and airports.
With the latest fighting spreading across strategic western coastal areas and islands surrounding the Bab al-Mandab, the Yemeni conflict is once again threatening to acquire a broader regional dimension.
Sanaa has continued to mobilize its forces and has vowed to drive the Saudi-led coalition and its allied formations completely out of Yemen, while Yemeni forces have also reported destroying weapons shipments allegedly destined for Saudi-backed proxies.
The reported developments around Bab al-Mandab now place the strategic waterway at the centre of the latest phase of the Yemen conflict, with international shipping, regional security and the wider balance of power in 
the Red Sea potentially hanging in the balance.