The rebels also claimed that, in retaliation for the Riyadh airstrikes, they launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles at military targets in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The rebels deployed fighters on the Greater and Lesser Khani Islands, located 160 km north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, said two government officials and one Houthi representative.
The Houthis took over the islands after hundreds of government-affiliated forces withdrew from the archipelago, said officials speaking anonymously.
The islands were seized after the rebels last week recaptured the port city of Mucha and the island of Majun, located in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree (Jahya Saris) also said that the rebels on Monday “carried out a large-scale military operation targeting military facilities and infrastructure, including fighter hangars, radars, runways, ammunition depots, and other targets located at King Khalid Air Force Base in Khamis Mushait.”
The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea, and the Houthis shelled neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government.
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Meanwhile, the Yemeni government promised to send more forces to the Red Sea coast, and one official acknowledged a “painful” defeat as the Houthis captured the port city of Mucha and the island in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait – an important alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
This escalation – especially the Houthis’ attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure and its shipping in the Red Sea – increases pressure on global oil supply and prices, which could give Iran an advantage in its war with the Americans.
Iran reported that a meeting planned on Monday in Oman with Gulf states to discuss the situation in the Strait of Hormuz was postponed at Saudi Arabia’s request, citing the war in Yemen.
“It is true that Saudi Arabia requested to postpone this meeting,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeili Baqaei (Esmailis Bagajis). “Citing the Yemen issue as a reason is a false pretext,” he added at a press conference in Tehran attended by the news agency AFP.
With Yemen at risk of slipping back into civil war, the United Nations estimated that since early September, more than 80,000 people have fled their homes due to fighting in the impoverished country.
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