Yemen's Battle for Bab al-Mandeb Drags On as Houthi Push for High Ground Fails

Fighting grinds on despite rival claims

According to Yemeni government forces, Houthi combatants have not yet managed to push through to the elevated terrain above Bab al-Mandeb, a vantage point the group would reportedly need to secure any lingering presence near the waterway.²

President Al-Alimi called for a general mobilisation to reinforce the offensive. Abdul Basir al-Bahr, a senior official with the Taiz Military Axis, said the plan involved recalling reservists and putting them through fresh training together with local fighters opposing the Houthis and volunteer civilians, while noting the effort remained in its early stages with no way yet to gauge its effect on the fighting.²

Ammar al-Sami'i, an army media spokesman, said troops had shut down al-Houban, a Taiz crossing point that had been reopened for civilian humanitarian use in 2024, after what he characterized as an attempted Houthi infiltration into the city.²

Citing a military source, a Houthi-affiliated news agency asserted that its forces had pushed government troops out of the al-Mawasit district in Taiz province, though the assertion remains unverified by independent parties.³

²

Government claims sweeping gains

Yemeni government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, said they had retaken Mocha and the coastal town of Dhubab near Bab el-Mandeb, and announced a campaign to recapture all Houthi-held territory.⁷

President Al-Alimi declared the operation, named Dawn of Yemen, aimed at ending what he called the Houthi coup and restoring state institutions, including in Sanaa. He said hundreds of Houthi fighters were surrounded in Dhubab.¹⁶

Al-Alimi said: "I hereby announce the launch of military operations to reclaim the remaining territories of the republic," adding the campaign was "not a war against civilians, religious groups or tribes" and pledging "no revenge, no retribution, no attacks on innocent people."¹²

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Houthi denial

The Houthi movement rejected the government's account. A ground source cited by Xinhua dismissed the announcement as a premature claim of victory and part of an escalating propaganda battle, while a Houthi military spokesman quoted by Al Jazeera called the government's assertions "fabricated heroics."⁹²

Officials cited by CNBC and AGBI said the Houthis denied Mocha had fallen and insisted the movement still held every area it had previously captured.⁴⁸

Scale of the offensive

Yemen's military described a pincer-style operation that enabled troops to capture Bab al-Mandeb, with army spokesman Colonel Majed Al Nuzaili saying advanced capabilities were being used. Mocha reportedly fell after heavy fighting.¹

Government sources said the campaign had destroyed 324 high-value Houthi targets using 100 fighter jets.¹⁶

Regional stakes grow

The Houthis targeted multiple sites inside Saudi Arabia, including King Khalid International Airport, an Aramco refinery, Abha airport and the Khamis Mushait base, as well as Jazan and Najran airports, where three people were injured.²⁴

Turkey and Pakistan agreed to rapidly deploy military forces to Saudi Arabia, invoking a clause of the Mecca Alliance that stipulates an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all three, while the United States said it was providing intelligence support. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saudi Arabia and Yemeni forces had "a right to defend themselves."²

Humanitarian and economic backdrop

The World Health Organization reported a death toll of at least 959 and over 4,200 injuries tied to the renewed violence, and the International Organization for Migration estimated that over 184,000 people have been forced from their homes since the fighting restarted. WHO emergency director Annette Heinzelmann said the escalation was "pushing an already fragile health system towards breaking point."²

Earlier WHO figures cited roughly 200,000 displaced, including more than 3,600 who crossed into Djibouti, and said hunger affected about 75 percent of households in some regions.¹

The fighting comes as Bab al-Mandeb has gained added importance as an alternative shipping route after the conflict involving Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, according to The National. A Houthi-run maritime body warned that transit would not be safe as long as what it called Saudi aggression continued.¹

Crude prices edged lower amid the uncertainty, with Brent dipping briefly below $100 a barrel before steadying, as traders remained on edge over possible Middle East-driven supply disruptions.⁴⁸

Unverified footage

Video circulating online purportedly showing a pro-government armoured vehicle ramming unarmed and armed men amid the fighting has not been independently confirmed.⁵