Government forces withdraw from area near Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Ansar Allah in control

Resumen detallado

Yemeni forces fighting for the internationally recognised Saudi-backed ⁠government said on Sunday that they were withdrawing from an ...

Yemeni forces fighting for the internationally recognised Saudi-backed ⁠government said on Sunday that they were withdrawing from an area overlooking the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, ​leaving the Iran-aligned Ansar Allah in control.

The ​government's retreat from the Bab el-Mandeb area hands the Ansar Allah greater leverage over the maritime chokepoint, creating a potent pressure point on global shipping while Iran continues to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.

This dual squeeze would further isolate Gulf oil producers from their main shipping routes.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is ⁠one of the world's most important and busiest routes for global seaborne commodity and goods shipments, ⁠particularly from Asia to Europe via Egypt's Suez Canal.

The southern Yemeni forces said they were redeploying toward Aden, where the government is based, as the Ansar Allah - who control much of the north, including the capital Sanaa and Yemen's most ‌populous areas - increase pressure on the southern areas still under ​government control.

"The Southern Armed ⁠Forces announce the implementation of a redeployment operation for its forces from Dhubab ​Airport and the Bab el-Mandeb area, west ‌of Taiz Governorate," the southern forces said in a statement.

"This step is taken based on the priority of securing the capital, Aden, and the ​neighbouring governorates, as well as strengthening the front lines and addressing existing threats."

Government forces launched a military campaign in October to recapture the strategic coastal areas from the powerful militia, which had pushed south in September in an attempt to seize control of Yemen's entire Red Sea coast. The lightning offensive brought the Ansar Allah within ‌reach of Bab el-Mandeb.

The escalation in fighting, which broke a 2022 UN-brokered truce, became another ​volatile front in the wider US-Israeli war on Iran, as the Ansar Allah continue to launch attacks on ​Saudi Arabia, ‌a ⁠key…

Inicio del artículo, extracto de Oman Observer. Para leer el resto, abra el artículo en el sitio del medio.