Yemenis flee across Red Sea as Houthis and Saudi forces clash

Ibrahim Issa, 50, originally from the Yemeni coastal town of Dhubab, sits directly on the frontline of the brutal conflict between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed pro-government forces.

Today, surrounded by his family, he rests on a tarpaulin spread over the sandy floor of a vast open-sided warehouse at Markazi camp in Obock, northern Djibouti. The facility is packed with Yemeni families who made the dangerous sea crossing across the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait before traveling by truck and foot.

As a fisherman, Ibrahim already owned a boat large enough to evacuate his family, along with several goats. In just the past few days, more than 3,000 refugees, many of them entire families, have arrived at the camp jointly administered by the government and the United Nations.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

The escalation began when Houthi forces, who previously seized major populated areas in Yemen, made a rapid dash down the coast toward the strategic maritime chokepoint connecting the southern Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. In response, Saudi Arabia has launched hundreds of airstrikes along the flat coastal plain, while the Houthis have fired numerous drones and missiles at infrastructure in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

Djibouti, a small former French colony situated just across the water, maintains that it will not enter the war directly. Yet, the nation remains one of the most heavily militarized regions in Africa, hosting major strategic foreign military installations.