The Houthis can absolutely not hold on to the narrow, naked Bab el-Mandab coast and the islands with an exposed left (eastern) flank, and that's exactly why they are moving heaven (or hell) and earth to take Kahboub and the Wazi’iyah–Kadha line from the government forces. If they cannot secure their flank, and the coalition has so far prevented them from doing that, the Hoots will have to pack up and roll back to north. Now the question is, why the Hoots embarked on their costly coastal and island sprint early in Sep, knowing it wouldn't add much to their anti-access/area denial capability. They already controlled the shipping lanes going to and coming from BaM from the comfort of Hudaydah and their weapons can easily reach BaM from the north. The answer is to appease their friends in Tehran and Bandar Abbas, to complete the IRGC's Hormuz effort, to drive the oil prices up, and to eventually set up a toll booth at Perim island.

"When we say ‘death of America’, it is because America kills us... "We don't explode people... we reject this terminology." Houthi senior official Nasr al-Din Amer claims the group are not terrorists. Watch more 👇 📺 piped.video/aRO6lM1GqNI @piersmorgan

It took Houthi rebels less than 48 hours to seize Yemen’s Red Sea coast from pro-government forces. But the Houthis didn’t do it alone. Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisers were in the field helping direct the battle, people familiar with the offensive told The Associated Press.

Good research doesn't always attract the attention you might hope for. So I'm delighted that the 'Beyond the Axis' project I led for @TCFdotorg's Century International has generated so much interest beyond MENA-nerd circles (though it's been very popular there too) #thread

"According to the Houthi official, Iranian advisers had previously focused on strategic planning and were not in the field. But in the latest escalation, they were “present at all levels,” he said, including planning tactical maneuvers and working with front-line commanders." timesofisrael.com/liveblog_e…

BREAKING | Fighting between the Ethiopian federal government and the TPLF and its rebel allies has broken out along several axes after the TPLF seized the three main regional airports in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region overnight. Fighting is reportedly ongoing along the Tigray-Afar regional border, as well as in the Amhara region. The rebels may be attempting to break a partial federal government blockade of TPLF-controlled Tigray and cut road corridors from Addis Ababa to Djibouti and Eritrea. 🧵⬇️

The Houthis are using commercial supply chains with China to assemble missiles, drones and other weapons by themselves. New @business Big Take investigation with @MarksSimon edited by @neiLmunshi. Read a🎁link here bloomberg.com/news/features/…

A Yemeni father has accused the Houthis of sending his son to the front lines without the family’s consent. Abu Ali al-Sarhani named Houthi mobilization official Ahmed al-Ansi, accusing him of recruiting children and receiving 20,000 Yemeni rials for each child sent to the front. Sarhani warned of retaliation if his son is harmed. #Yemen