(VOVworld) - Arab allied troops led by Saudi Arabia said on Thursday that they have captured Yemen’s Hanish Island in the Red Sea from Houthi rebels.

Greater Hanish is part of an archipelago that commands access to the Bab al-Mandab Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, through which much of the world's maritime traffic passes.

The group of islands was used by the Houthis to store and smuggle weapons into Yemen.

The coalition said its forces "cleansed Greater Hanish", the biggest island in the Red Sea's main shipping lanes, according to Saudi state television.

Local fishermen said that the islands had been under heavy shelling by Arab forces for weeks before they were seized.