Spokesman for ‪Arab coalition operations in Yemen Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said Tuesday the coalition forces seized control of Yermen's Zuqar Island just hours before a week-long ceasefire came into effect.

The forces managed to expel Houthi and Saleh militias from the island, he added.

The spokesman said that the island would help the coalition forces to provide protection of shipping lanes in the Strait of Bab el Mandeb.

Zuqar Island is an island in the Red Sea between the coasts of mainland Yemen and Eritrea, near the Bab el Mandeb strait which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Meanwhile, the coalition said that a ceasefire had begun at noon Tuesday as scheduled.

Sources: MENA