Thousands forced to flee as Houthis advance on Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced across Yemen in recent days, fleeing the advance of Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Many residents of Aden, Yemen, opened their homes to people displaced by the Houthi rebels takeover of the port city of Mokha.

In one of the houses, dozens of men lied on the floor carpeted with thin mattresses and bed sheets.

”We set out in hysterical panic on a motorcycle, not knowing where we were heading,” said Alaa Ali Salem who fled along with his family from Mokha’s al-Khawkha district.

“The roads suddenly became extremely congested, and while I was driving, the motorcycle overturned. My wife, my children and I were all injured,” he added while holding his son.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Saturday that at least 76,000 people have fled their homes in Yemen since July in light of escalation in fighting, up from 46,000 just days earlier.

“We saw soldiers shouting for a retreat as bullets flew all around, and we had no idea what was happening,” said Durrah Ali Hassan who found shelter in a relative’s house in Aden.

The capture of the Red Sea port of Mokha and a strategic island by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen brings their forces to the heart of a key choke point for the global economy: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait leading out of the Red Sea.

The Houthis took Mokha on Thursday and on Friday captured Mayun, also known as Perim, off Yemen’s coast, two officials said, in a swift advance that extends their reach near one of the world’s key commercial lanes.

The strait had been a vital route for crude oil supplies from Saudi Arabia to Asia after shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was restricted due to threat of Iranian attack — until Houthi targeting of Saudi tankers largely ended that safety valve.

The Houthi advance is focusing renewed attention on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and further risks to shipping there, despite efforts by the Houthis to reassure shipowners that vessels other than those covered by their embargo on Saudi-linked shipping remain safe.

Houthi fighters already control a large part of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and Hodeida in the west.

Fleeing to Djibouti

About 1,400 people fled Yemen for Djibouti due to as the fighting between government forces and Iran-allied Houthis intensified, Djibouti's minister of economy and finance said Saturday.

"1400 #refugees arrived in #Djibouti from #Yemen in just 24 hours," Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh wrote on X.

Located opposite Yemen on the Horn of Africa, tiny Djibouti borders the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden.

Safiya Ibrahim, humanitarian response coordinator for the IOM, said that "vulnerable groups such as women and children have reached the shores of Obock, with more expected in the coming days."