The Media Line says Yemeni forces 'secure' Bab el-Mandeb; Reuters says they are 'advancing towards' it

The disagreement. All three reports say Yemen's government forces moved on Bab el-Mandeb on 5 October. They disagree on how far they got.

The two Reuters reports are one wire account in two languages. They are not two sources.

Saudi aircraft. Only The Media Line reports air support: "A Saudi-led coalition sent about 100 warplanes Monday". It names no source for the figure. Its headline names Saudi Arabia alone, not the coalition.

Sanaa. Only the French Reuters headline says the forces "ont lancé une offensive sur Sanaa", the capital the Houthis hold.

The other side. No report quotes the Houthis, or anyone in Sanaa or near the fighting. They appear only in the caption of an older file photograph, which calls them "Shiite Houthi rebels".

What is not settled - Who holds the strait now. - Whether the coalition sent about 100 warplanes. One report says so and gives no source. - Whether an offensive on Sanaa has begun. - Whether anyone has been killed. No report gives a figure. - What the Houthis say. We hold no report from their side.

What this is about. Yemen's internationally recognised government says its forces are pushing the Houthi movement back from Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow sea passage at the southern mouth of the Red Sea.

How it got here. The Houthis are an armed movement from Yemen's Zaidi Shia north. They took the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014, and the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi fled south. In March 2015 Saudi Arabia formed a coalition with the United Arab Emirates and other states and began bombing to restore that government. The war split the country. The Houthis hold Sanaa and most of the populous north-west. The government and its allies hold much of the south and east. In April 2022 Hadi handed power to a Presidential Leadership Council, and a UN-brokered truce began. The truce formally lapsed that October but largely held on the ground. From November 2023 the Houthis attacked ships in the Red Sea, saying they were acting over Israel's war in Gaza. The United States and Britain began striking Houthi targets in January 2024.

The actors. - The government and its Leadership Council want the north and the capital back. - The Houthis govern Sanaa and are aligned with Iran. The United States and Saudi Arabia accuse Iran of arming them. - Saudi Arabia leads the coalition and borders Houthi territory.

What is at stake. Bab el-Mandeb lies between Yemen on one side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the other. It links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, which makes it the route between the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. Whoever holds the Yemeni shore can threaten the ships that pass. If government forces hold it, the Houthis lose their reach over the strait. If they do not, little changes at sea.

Where it stands. On 5 October Reuters reported an advance towards the strait. The Media Line reported that government forces had secured it.