On September 9, Yemen’s Ansar Allah, or “Houthis” as they are also known, descended from the highlands down roads and riverbeds to the Tihamah coastal plain and captured the port of Mokha from the Saudi-based government the following day. By September 11, they had taken Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Since then, they have used that position to blockade Israel and exercise leverage over the Saudi kingdom.

Ansar Allah went on to shut down the 745-mile-long East–West pipeline that transports four to five million barrels per day from Saudi Arabia’s eastern oil fields to its Red Sea export terminals, possibly with the assistance of Iraqi militias. In response, the price of global Brent crude rose to $108 a barrel; it is now hovering at $102. For comparison, the figure in January, before the US-Israeli war against Iran began, was $60 a barrel.

Meanwhile, fighting in Yemen continues. Around 1,500 soldiers are injured and another five hundred are confirmed are dead on the government side alone; battles are taking place in Al Jawf, Marib, and around Taiz as Ansar Allah seeks to secure the highlands overlooking their new territory.