The American Security Project published on 23 September 2026 an article titled "Two Shores, One Chokepoint: The Houthi-al-Shabaab Nexus" by Joshua Perez.
The alliance between the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and al-Shabaab in Somalia demonstrates that the Bab el Mandeb chokepoint at the south end of the Red Sea has two gatekeepers.
