Yemen’s government forces claim to have retaken the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and Dhubab airport

The army of Yemen’s internationally recognised government has announced that it has “managed to take control” of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and has retaken the airport near the coastal town of Dhubab, in Taiz province, as Al Jazeera reports.

In a series of posts on X, Brigadier General Majid al-Nuzaili said government forces took the airport and strengthened control in the area, while several Houthi fighters fled by boat after being surrounded. According to him, the military operation is continuing.

Earlier, government forces announced that they had taken the Dhubab district during a “decisive military operation” against the Houthis. According to the state news agency SabaNet, the “Homeland Shield” forces and the Giants Brigades carried out a large-scale operation with air cover against Houthi militia positions, advancing, taking important positions and cutting supply lines and the roads leading to Bab al-Mandeb. A military source said a number of Houthi fighters were killed and wounded, while military equipment was destroyed or damaged.

Bab al-Mandeb is one of the most critical nodes of global maritime trade, linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden — and control over it has been at the centre of the fighting of recent weeks between government forces and the Iranian-backed Houthis.