Yemeni Houthis Seize Strategic Red Sea Island Zubkar

Yemeni Houthi rebels have captured Zubkar Island in the southern Red Sea, a move seen as strategically significant for their conflict with Saudi Arabia. According to a Yemeni military source, the rebels launched a missile strike on the island before landing troops via speedboats. This follows their earlier seizure of the port of Mokha, from which they reportedly advanced towards a key strait.

Sources in Yemen told Erem News that after securing Mokha, the Houthis dispatched a large contingent of speedboats from the southern coast of Hodeidah province to Zubkar. Two ballistic missiles were fired at the island immediately before the landing. The fate of the government garrison stationed on Zubkar remains unknown, though sources speculate soldiers may have evacuated by sea towards Aden.

Zubkar, the largest Yemeni island in this part of the Red Sea, is located approximately 90 kilometers southeast of Hodeidah, a major Houthi port that has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes. It is also about 160 kilometers north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The island, covering about 130 square kilometers, has no permanent residents but hosts military installations.

This is not the first time Zubkar has changed hands. The Houthis initially seized it in 2014, but Saudi-led coalition forces recaptured it in December 2015. Subsequently, units of the National Resistance, led by Tariq Saleh, nephew of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and supported by the UAE, were stationed on the island.

Earlier reports indicated that the Iran-backed Houthis were intensifying their offensive, moving closer to controlling a vital section of the Red Sea.