Ansarullah Forces Reportedly Capture Al-Aghbara Mountains Overlooking Bab al-Mandab
The reported advance in Lahij province would strengthen the group’s positions near the strategic Red Sea strait.
IRNA reported that Ansarullah-aligned Yemeni forces captured the Al-Aghbara mountains in Lahij province near Bab al-Mandab after Saudi-backed forces reportedly withdrew. The development could strengthen their positions overlooking the strategic strait, but the claims are based on one report and unnamed local sources.
Iran’s IRNA reported that Yemeni armed forces aligned with the Ansarullah movement had captured the Al-Aghbara mountain range in the Al-Mudharabah area of Lahij province, overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The report said the mountains extend through the Al-Mudharabah and Ras al-Ara districts toward the Kahbub range.
According to local sources cited by IRNA, the Saudi-backed Giants Brigades withdrew from their positions after an attack by the Sana’a-aligned forces. The same sources said Ansarullah-aligned forces had assured local tribes that their operations were directed only at Saudi-backed troop concentrations.
The reported capture would improve the forces’ observation and defensive positions around Bab al-Mandab and could restrict the movement or assembly of opposing forces along the strait and Yemen’s western coast. IRNA also linked the development to earlier reported gains in the port city of Mokha, the Kahbub area and several strategic islands, describing these advances as increasing Sana’a’s control over the waterway.
These battlefield claims rely on a single IRNA report citing unnamed local sources. The evidence provided does not independently confirm the capture, the extent of any territorial control, the withdrawal of the Giants Brigades, or the broader strategic consequences described in the report.