CNN Says Houthis Take Control of Bab al-Mandab Strait
CNN has reported that as Houthi forces advanced toward the island of Perim at the entrance to the Red Sea on Friday, control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait effectively fell into their hands.
The network, citing a Western source, wrote that the recorded list of soldiers affiliated with Yemen’s ousted government and backed by Saudi Arabia was full of fictitious names used to collect monthly salaries, and that in practice only 20 percent of them were present on the battlefield.
According to the same source, this situation was the result of years of administrative corruption among the Saudi-backed forces. The assessment said the structural weakness of the front opposing the Houthis was one of the key factors in the latest development.
Amr al-Bayd, a senior official in Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council, also said there was no clear strategy and that mismanagement was evident on this front. He criticized the lack of effective management among the anti-Houthi forces.
Mohammed al-Basha, a former adviser to the US government, also said internal disputes among the leaders of the anti-Houthi movement had made their defensive lines vulnerable. According to him, there is no political cohesion or unified command in the Saudi-led anti-Houthi coalition.
The Bab al-Mandab Strait is one of the important waterways at the entrance to the Red Sea, and Perim Island lies in a strategic position along this route. The passage is of wide regional and international importance in terms of maritime transit and ship traffic.
