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Houthi advances at Bab el-Mandeb tighten control over key Red Sea chokepoint
Houthi forces say they’ve seized positions around the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Dhubab airfield after weeks of fighting, while Yemeni government units retreat under drone, missile, and reported Saudi friendly fire. The shift would place one of the world’s narrowest sea lanes closer to a front line.
Control around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the narrow passage between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is tilting toward Houthi forces in ways that could reshape security for ships moving oil and goods between Asia and Europe.
Houthi units, also known as Ansarallah, have taken full control of positions around the Bab el-Mandeb and the airport at Dhubab after a month of fighting, according to multiple battlefield reports from Yemen on 15 November. Forces of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council and National Shield units are reported to have withdrawn south toward Aden.
Earlier reports from the same front described a Houthi assault on Mount Kharaz, a strategic elevation and military camp near the strait. Those accounts said Houthi fighters captured most of the mountain and the Kharaz camp after a day of combat. The reported loss of Mount Kharaz and its surroundings pushed Yemeni government forces into a broader retreat along the coast.
As these units pulled back from Jabal al-Khabb and nearby coastal areas, they came under continued Houthi drone and missile fire. In the middle of the withdrawal, government forces also reportedly suffered friendly fire from Saudi aircraft. None of these battlefield claims have been independently verified, but together they outline a picture in which anti-Saudi forces now hold much of the commanding terrain on Yemen’s side of the southern Red Sea entrance.
For Yemeni troops aligned with the internationally recognized government, loss of fortified mountain positions and an organized coastal line means giving up the high ground they relied on for surveillance and defense. Withdrawing under airstrikes and drone attacks erodes already stretched manpower and makes it harder to regroup further south.
Civilians in nearby coastal communities face a familiar but still severe uncertainty each time control shifts. Artillery and airstrikes, road closures, and new front-line positions can disrupt fishing, displace families, and put local ports at risk of being drawn deeper into a war driven as much by decisions in Riyadh and other regional capitals as by actors on the ground in Yemen.
For global shipping, the operational question is whether captains and insurers now see the Bab el-Mandeb coastline as held by a movement already known for missile and drone fire against vessels in the Red Sea. Even without a formal blockade, transit past a shore dominated by Houthi forces introduces new doubts about surveillance, the potential deployment of anti-ship systems, and the stability of rules around the waterway.
Regionally, the reports suggest an expanding area where forces aligned with Iran have leverage over one of the main sea lanes linking the Gulf to European and North American markets. Bab el-Mandeb, together with the Strait of Hormuz, frames the route for much of the world’s seaborne oil and gas exports.
Control of Dhubab airfield and nearby high ground gives Houthi forces better observation of passing ships and more options for basing drones or other systems close to the strait. Risk to Bab el-Mandeb traffic does not require a declared closure; a contested coastline and the perception of unpredictable local power can already shape how shipowners and insurers assess the route.
Signals to watch now include any decision by major shipping lines to adjust routes away from the Red Sea–Suez corridor, shifts in war-risk insurance pricing for transits off Yemen, and how Saudi Arabia and its partners respond — whether through reinforcing Yemeni government units, stepping up airstrikes near the strait, or seeking new maritime security arrangements. A sustained Houthi hold on Bab el-Mandeb would make the Yemeni conflict a standing factor in calculations about global trade.