Yemen Clashes Kill 60+; Houthis Eye Bab al-Mandab — SkimNews
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- Yemen's clashes killed more than 60 people on Saturday September 5 — 26 government troops per three Yemeni military sources, 31 Houthi fighters per Houthi medical and military sources, and 6 civilians hit by a missile on a bus traveling between Taiz and Aden, with 7 others wounded.
- Houthi rebels seized positions near Taiz on September 4 and are pushing to cut off the government-held port of Mokha and advance toward areas bordering the Bab al-Mandab strait, with reinforcements arriving from Aden and a military officer calling the "coming hours decisive."
- Friday's fighting alone killed 129 people according to an AFP tally compiled from several sources — more than double Saturday's reported toll.
- Saudi Arabia carried out three airstrikes on Saturday targeting positions the Houthis had recently captured in Taiz, while the Houthis announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began targeting its ships and territory.
- The Bab al-Mandab strait has gained strategic importance as an oil transit route after Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes of the Houthi advance for Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter.
- A July truce between the Houthis and Yemen's government collapsed after the rebels welcomed an Iranian plane to Sanaa, unleashing the current spate of attacks that the article frames as a new front in the wider West Asia war that began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Why it matters: With Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandab has become Saudi Arabia's critical oil-export route — and Houthi forces are now advancing toward it while announcing a maritime blockade of Saudi ships. Saudi airstrikes on Taiz show Riyadh responding militarily, opening a third front in the West Asia war at the worst possible moment for Saudi crude flows.
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