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Ulviyya Poladova

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Yemen’s Houthi movement has seized the strategically important Perim Island, located in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The sources said CNN that control of the island gives the Houthis the ability to influence one of the world’s key international shipping routes. Large volumes of cargo, including millions of barrels of oil, pass through the route every day.

Meanwhile, Al Arabiya television reported that the Houthis had taken control of several areas along Yemen’s Red Sea coast stretching toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said that shipping routes around Yemen remain open to other vessels, with the exception of ships linked to Saudi Arabia.

Later, a Houthi official told The New Arab that the group had also taken control of Mayyun Island and completed its control of Bab el-Mandab, after the Houthis took Mokha following about a week of heavy fighting.