SANAA: A Yemeni military source said Friday that government forces backed by Saudi Arabia had launched an operation to recapture the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait.
While a Saudi diplomat said that the Riyadh-backed forces had successfully captured the strait, a military source on the ground speaking before the diplomat’s statement contradicted that account, saying fighting was ongoing.
The military source within the government confirmed to AFP that government forces had launched a “major operation” in the strait region, supported by Saudi air power.
But the source added that “fighting is fierce and advances are limited”.
Houthi-affiliated news agency Saba on Friday said an attack by government forces south of the strait had been repelled.
The Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, later wrote on X that “Bab al-Mandab has been liberated from the last elements of the Houthi terrorist militia”, without providing evidence.
The Houthis, who are fighting the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, seized the coastline alongside crucial trade route during a lightning offensive last month, extending their control over all of Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
Yemeni government forces have been attempting for several days to retake coastal territory captured by the pro-Iranian fighters.
The chokepoint, which sits at the southern tip of the Red Sea, has become vital for Saudi oil exports during the Middle East war as Iran blockades the Strait of Hormuz.
