Yemen envoy warns of wider war as Houthis advance near Bab al-Mandeb
Yemen's ambassador to Qatar has warned that Houthi advances along the Red Sea coast could widen the war beyond Yemen and threaten one of the world's most important shipping routes. Rajeh Badi said the group was trying to seize strategic ground overlooking the Red Sea, including areas near al-Makha and al-Waziyah in Taiz province. He said the fighting now carries consequences that extend well beyond Yemen's borders.
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Badi made the comments in an interview on Wednesday, saying the internationally recognised Yemeni government had not violated any truce since 2021. He described the Houthis as the aggressors and said their push was aimed at gaining commanding positions to launch more effective attacks on ships and disrupt navigation in the Red Sea. He also said the government had responded by opening fronts in al-Jawf, Marib and al-Bayda.
The ambassador said the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb strait are vital for global shipping, including energy and food supplies. Bab al-Mandeb links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, while the Red Sea leads north to the Suez Canal. He warned that if maritime traffic were choked there, the impact could be comparable to a major global chokepoint, with wider effects on trade and security.
The warning comes against the backdrop of Yemen's long-running conflict, in which the Houthis have held territory in the north and west for years while the internationally recognised government has remained based elsewhere. Control of the western coastline and the high ground in Taiz province matters because it can affect access to the Red Sea corridor. That makes the current fighting significant not only as a battlefield development, but also as a maritime security issue.
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Badi also said the Houthis had advanced on strategic ground overlooking the sea, and that the situation could draw in other regional actors. He said Saudi Arabia was already being pulled into the confrontation, pointing to previous Houthi attacks on Saudi territory, civilian infrastructure in the kingdom's south and Saudi-linked vessels in the Red Sea. The remarks underline how the conflict has repeatedly spilled into regional waters and border areas.
It remains unclear how far the Houthi advance has progressed and whether the government's counter-moves have changed the front lines. The ambassador did not give casualty figures or say how much territory had changed hands. What to watch next is whether the fighting intensifies around the Red Sea coast and whether shipping risks in the Bab al-Mandeb area increase further.
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