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In Yemen, Houthis now say they control a stretch of land along the Red Sea that overlooks a key shipping route. The Houthis overran Yemeni army forces and their allied militias in a blitz that began just a week ago. And that Houthi advance could push up gas prices even higher, as NPR's Aya Batrawy reports.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Houthi fighters are now in control of the Yemeni port city of Mocha and other territory in the West. The Iran-backed group overran Saudi-backed forces who fled and left armored vehicles behind as the Houthis advanced. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Friday, they've taken control of 2,000 square miles of territory in Western Yemen.
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YAHYA SAREE: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: The Houthi's stunning advance gives them control of territory overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb. That key Red Sea shipping route had been Saudi Arabia's fallback as Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia was rerouting millions of barrels of oil a day through a cross-country pipeline to the western side of the Arabian Peninsula.
But satellite images examined by NPR show a massive fire along that pipeline this week, and the Houthis are targeting Saudi ships in Bab el-Mandeb too. Saudi authorities say the Houthis fired at oil facilities and wounded more than 70 people in the south of the country Tuesday. The Houthis say their cross-border attacks were in response to dozens of deadly Saudi airstrikes. And as fighting also flared this week between the U.S. and Iran, the price of Brent Crude climbed past $100 a barrel.
VALI NASR: The Houthis have been attacking Saudi oil facilities almost nonstop over the past month as a way of keeping pressure on the global market.
BATRAWY: Vali Nasr, a professor of Mideast studies at Johns Hopkins University, says the region's wars have forced countries like the U.S. to draw from their strategic oil reserves to keep prices from skyrocketing.
MOHAMMED AL-BUKHAITI: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: Senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti tells NPR the group is targeting Saudi Arabia and its ships so that it lifts its blockade on Houthi areas, calling it a blockade for a blockade. And he says the Houthi attacks are narrowly focused on Saudi Arabia and not on international shipping at large. Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Dubai.
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