Yemen government offensive targets Houthis near Bab el-Mandeb as ground war widens

Competing claims around Dhubab and Bab el-Mandeb

Government-aligned units, including the Giants Brigades, said they had begun a decisive operation in the Bab el-Mandeb area and attacked Houthi positions in Dhubab.¹ Al Jazeera reported that Yemen’s Saudi-backed military claimed it had reclaimed Dhubab district and seized key positions near the strait, but said those battlefield reports could not be independently verified.⁴

Reuters, citing military and government sources, reported that Saudi-backed Yemeni forces had seized key positions on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and taken large parts of Dhubab district with heavy Saudi-led air support. Houthi-aligned media denied that government forces had advanced there, calling the claims “completely untrue.”⁶

If sustained, the government’s claims would mark an attempt to roll back Houthi gains from September, when the rebels pushed down the western coast, captured Mokha and seized strategic Red Sea islands. Those moves enabled the Houthis to exert control over the Yemeni side of Bab el-Mandeb, a corridor through which roughly 12% of global trade transits, according to AP.¹

The Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni military have framed the counteroffensive as both a ground operation and an air campaign. Anadolu reported that Yemeni military spokesman Lt. Col. Majid Abdullah al-Nuzayli said government forces had taken control of Bab el-Mandeb, seized Dhubab airport and cut the road between Dhubab and Mokha, putting it under fire control.⁵ Those claims remain contested by Houthi-aligned outlets and have not been independently confirmed.

Taiz becomes the inland objective

The coastal battle is tied to Houthi moves around Taiz. The Houthis seized Turbah on Sunday, shortly before the government announced its major operation. Turbah sits on a main road linking Taiz to Aden and has served as a key post for forces defending Taiz against the Houthis.¹

AP reported that Houthi forces had earlier seized several villages and areas on Taiz’s outskirts, raising the prospect that they could encircle the city.¹ Reuters reported that the Houthis advanced late Sunday onto sections of the mountain road to Taiz, while noting that one government source denied the road had been cut.⁶

The Critical Threats Project and the Institute for the Study of War assessed that the capture of al-Turbah would likely severely restrict government-aligned forces’ ability to reinforce and resupply front-line positions across Taiz province, including Taiz city. The assessment said the move could also protect the eastern flank of Houthi gains along the Red Sea coast and complicate any government effort to retake coastal areas.⁷

That makes Taiz and Bab el-Mandeb linked military objectives, not separate fronts. Control of Turbah and the Taiz-Aden road affects whether government forces can sustain inland positions. Control of Dhubab and nearby routes affects whether the Houthis can hold the coastal corridor and threaten maritime traffic.

Government declares a wider campaign

President Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, announced Sunday that military operations had begun to regain Houthi-held territory and extend state authority across the country.² In a government statement carried by SABA, al-Alimi said the state was moving from “preparation and preparedness” to a “liberation” phase after exhausting chances for calm.³

On Monday, al-Alimi said in a post that the operation, dubbed “Yemen Dawn,” aimed to restore state institutions, liberate Sanaa and end the Houthi takeover, AP reported.¹ Sanaa has been under Houthi control since 2014, when the rebels seized the capital and forced the government into exile, prompting Saudi-led military intervention the following year.¹

Axios reported that the counteroffensive had been planned for weeks by Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Saudi Arabia, with tens of thousands of pro-government ground troops involved and Saudi forces primarily providing air cover and airstrikes.⁸ The outlet also reported, citing U.S. officials, that the United States was not taking part in direct combat but was providing intelligence and targeting support.⁸

A collapsed pause, not only a shipping crisis

Yemen’s civil war had been largely frozen since a 2022 truce. The latest escalation has revived a conflict that began in 2014 and has killed more than 150,000 people over the past decade, according to AP.¹ AP reported that the current flare-up began in mid-July, after the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Sanaa airport to prevent an unauthorized Iranian flight from landing. The Houthis then launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and Yemeni government forces, announced a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea and attacked several Saudi-linked vessels.¹

The September Houthi push along the Red Sea coast turned that confrontation into a ground war over ports, islands and road networks. By early October, the center of gravity had widened from maritime attacks and airstrikes to the terrain linking Taiz, Turbah, Dhubab and Bab el-Mandeb.

For regional security planners, the risk is that neither side can separate the inland and coastal fronts. A Houthi hold over the Taiz-Aden supply route could pressure government positions around Taiz and support the rebels’ western coastal posture. A government recovery of Dhubab and Bab el-Mandeb positions could weaken Houthi leverage over Red Sea shipping, but may require a prolonged fight through heavily contested terrain.

The result is a renewed phase of Yemen’s war in which humanitarian displacement, Red Sea trade risk and Saudi-Iranian proxy dynamics are again converging on the same battlefield.