Cairo: With a Shia insurgent group, Houthis, taking control of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, there is growing concern that the group could soon hit international shipping. Concern has been raised in the region that the Houthis could target the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, a narrow waterway located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa that leads into the Suez Canal area.
The head of the Suez Canal Authority has played down the threat however.
"Egypt will not allow the Houthis to control the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, because of its impact on the Suez Canal and its traffic," Mohab Mamish was quoted as saying recently.
Yemen's army barely resisted this September when Houthis fighters swept into the capital Sanaa and in just a few days wrested control of most major government ministries. [05/10/2014]
