Houthis seize Red Sea islands, attack Saudi targets

BREAKING: Yemen's Houthis seize the strategic Greater and Lesser Hanish islands in the southern Red Sea and launch a fresh wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia, tightening their grip on a key global shipping route.

The Houthis just took two islands in the Red Sea.

Greater and Lesser Hanish, seized Monday, and this aerial view shows why they matter, fortifications sitting right on one of the busiest shipping lanes on the planet. Whoever holds those islands looks straight down the approach to the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the chokepoint where a huge share of global trade squeezes through.

And they didn't stop there. The group, aligned with Iran, also claimed a fresh wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia the same day. These are the fighters we're talking about, and they've spent years proving they can reach deep into Saudi territory.

So now an armed group answerable to Tehran controls ground overlooking a route the world's oil and container traffic depends on. Shipping insurers were already nervous. Tonight they have coordinates.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.