Yemen preparing to close Bab al-Mandeb strait: new oil crisis?

Informed sources disclosed that Ansarullah fighters are preparing for large-scale military defense operations to strike back at Saudi Arabia's invasion, that will include closure of the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

"There are confirmed reports showing that preparations (by Yemeni forces) are underway to close Bab al-Mandeb Strait by using ground-to-sea missiles," Informed Yemeni sources told FNA on Friday.

They reiterated that the missiles will target the ships trying to pass through Bab al-Mandeb Strait which shows that Sana'a is determined to shut down the Strait.

"This defensive scenario has been under study for several months now," they added.

Over 65 percent of the global trade passes through Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

On Tuesday, the Yemeni fighters entered the strategic port city of Mocha, about 110 kilometers West of the Arab country's major city of Ta'izz.

The takeover of Mocha port facilitated Yemen's access to Bab al-Mandeb.

The Ansarullah fighters took control of Ta’izz on March 22.

Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against Yemen early Thursday, one day after the US-backed Yemeni president fled the country.

Riyadh claimed that it has bombed the positions of the Ansarullah fighters and launched attacks against the Sana'a airport and the Dulaimi airbase.

But despite Riyadh's claims, Saudi warplanes have flattened a number of homes near Sana’a international airport. The Saudi airstrikes on Yemen on Thursday claimed the lives of 25 civilians, including children.

Also, 15 more people were killed and injured in a second round of massive attacks by the Saudi Arabian fighter jets in the Northwestern Yemeni city of Sa’ada on Friday.

Yemen’s al-Massira TV reported that the Saudi air force targeted the Yemeni's civilians who were shopping in a market.

Five Persian Gulf States -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait -- backed by the US have declared war on Yemen in a joint statement issued earlier Thursday.

US President Barack Obama authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to the military operations, National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said late Wednesday night.

She added that while US forces were not taking direct military action in Yemen, Washington was establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate US military and intelligence support.

The Saudi aggression has received growing international condemnation as it is pushing the region and the world into an unprecedented fast-growing war as its ISIL mercenaries are on the brink of complete annihilation in Iraq and Syria.