Iran-backed Houthi fighters claimed new missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Sept. 13. Saudi civil defense said a projectile fell in al-Tawwal governorate near the Yemen border, wounding two people and damaging a mosque and other buildings. Sultan al-Arada of Yemen's ruling presidential council called the collapse at Mokha "painful and regrettable" and said forces are regrouping; the UN warns of renewed catastrophe.
Catch up
- Sept. 11 — Houthi forces captured Mokha, 46 miles from the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
- Sept. 12 — The Houthis said they took Perim Island, completing a month-long offensive along Yemen's west coast that killed more than 1,500 soldiers, Fox News reported.
- Sept. 13 — Monitors recorded no new shipping halts; retreating forces abandoned U.S.-made armored vehicles and artillery along the coast.
Perim sits in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the waterway between Yemen and Djibouti — 18 miles wide there, the island under 2 miles off Yemen, splitting traffic into two lanes (TWZ, Fox News).
The island holds a 1.85 km runway and three hangars built in February–May 2021 in UAE-linked construction (TWZ, Fox News). The runway's condition is unknown, and the Houthis have no manned aircraft to use it (TWZ, Fox News).
Yemen's earlier civil war killed 150,000 people before the 2022 ceasefire (NBC News) — the scale officials fear resuming.
Oil through the strait fell to 4.1 million barrels a day in 2024 from 9.3 million in 2023 (EIA); through Hormuz it ran 21 million a day in early 2026 (Kpler). EIA's tables put LNG through the strait at zero for 2024, down from 4.2 billion cubic feet a day in 2023.
The chokepointMap
A month-long offensive reached the strait
Houthi forces took Mokha on Sept. 11 and said they took Perim Island the next day, completing a coastal offensive that killed more than 1,500 soldiers. Perim sits inside the Bab el-Mandeb — the 18-mile waterway between Yemen and Djibouti that every Suez-bound ship has to pass.
A globe centred on the Bab el-Mandeb strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, marking Mokha and Perim Island — reported captured by Houthi forces — beside the shipping lane through the strait. Places marked: Bab el-Mandeb; Perim Island; Mokha; Djibouti. Drawn across the map: Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb — standing feature of the geography. Figures: oil through the strait in 2024 — down from 9.3 million in 2023, 4.1m barrels a day; wide between Yemen and Djibouti; Perim sits under 2 miles off Yemen, 18 miles; runway on Perim, built in 2021; the Houthis have no manned aircraft to use it, 1.85 km; soldiers killed in the month-long coastal offensive, 1,500+.
Route through the geography
What this map shows, as data
| Place | Role | Position | What the reporting says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bab el-Mandeb | Chokepoint | 12.58°N, 43.33°E | 18 miles wide between Yemen and Djibouti, with Perim splitting traffic into two lanes. Everything sailing between the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean passes it. | Wikidata Q83318, Bab-el-Mandeb |
| Perim Island | Reported struck | 12.66°N, 43.42°E | The Houthis said they took the island on Sept. 12. It holds a 1.85 km runway and three hangars built in 2021 in UAE-linked construction; the runway's condition is unknown and the Houthis have no manned aircraft. | Wikidata Q1160017, Perim |
| Mokha | Reported struck | 13.32°N, 43.25°E | Houthi forces captured the port on Sept. 11, 46 miles from the strait. Yemen's presidential council called the collapse 'painful and regrettable.' | Wikidata Q339258, Mokha |
| Djibouti | Place | 11.60°N, 43.15°E | The African shore of the chokepoint. | Wikidata Q3604, Djibouti |
| Drawn | Kind | Status | What the reporting says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb | Route | Standing feature of the geography | Ships between the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean pass the strait; there is no other sea route. | U.S. Energy Information Administration — World Oil Transit Chokepoints |
| Figure | Value | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| oil through the strait in 2024 — down from 9.3 million in 2023 | 4.1m barrels a day | — | U.S. Energy Information Administration — World Oil Transit Chokepoints |
| wide between Yemen and Djibouti; Perim sits under 2 miles off Yemen | 18 miles | — | Fox News: Houthis enter U.S. 'kill box' after seizing Red Sea cork |
| runway on Perim, built in 2021; the Houthis have no manned aircraft to use it | 1.85 km | — | Fox News: Houthis enter U.S. 'kill box' after seizing Red Sea cork |
| soldiers killed in the month-long coastal offensive | 1,500+ | — | Fox News: Houthis enter U.S. 'kill box' after seizing Red Sea cork |
Where every coordinate came from
- Coordinates: Wikidata Q83318 (Bab-el-Mandeb), 12.58°N 43.33°E.
- Coordinates: Wikidata Q1160017 (Perim), 12.66°N 43.42°E.
- Coordinates: Wikidata Q339258 (Mokha), 13.32°N 43.25°E.
- Coordinates: Wikidata Q3604 (Djibouti), 11.60°N 43.15°E.
- Drawn between open water in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea through the strait's published centre.
Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration — World Oil Transit Chokepoints · Fox News: Houthis enter U.S. 'kill box' after seizing Red Sea cork · Wikidata Q83318, Bab-el-Mandeb · Wikidata Q1160017, Perim · Wikidata Q339258, Mokha · Wikidata Q3604, Djibouti · Natural Earth (public domain)