Yemen government launches counteroffensive

What's happened

Yemen's internationally recognised government has announced a major military campaign to retake territory from the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. Forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition say they have pushed into Red Sea coastal areas, including around Dhubab and Mokha, while the Houthis report strikes on Saudi oil sites and gains around Taiz. The offensive has intensified fighting and displacement since August.

What's behind the headline?

What is happening

The internationally recognised Yemeni government has declared a nationwide military campaign and has instructed armed forces and allied formations to execute approved plans until Houthi control ends. Saudi-led coalition air strikes are supporting the operation while the Houthis are striking back with missiles and drones against Saudi infrastructure.

Why this matters now

• The Houthis' September seizure of the Red Sea coast and Bab al-Mandeb has given them leverage over a key global shipping route. That tactical gain has forced the government and its allies to abandon limited political engagement and return to large-scale military action.
• The fighting is concentrating on strategic transport nodes: Dhubab, Mokha and the Taiz–Aden road. Control of those routes will determine whether Taiz remains isolated and whether the government can project authority along the coast.

Who is driving the campaign

• The Presidential Leadership Council, led by Rashad al-Alimi, has taken direct responsibility and has framed the operation as state restoration.
• Saudi Arabia is providing air power and financial support; Riyadh has announced new aid to the government and the coalition says it is striking Houthi targets in support of ground operations.
• The Houthis are operating offensively on land and tactically by attacking Saudi energy infrastructure to raise the military and economic cost of action against them.

Likely trajectory and impacts

• This will increase frontline intensity and displacement. Humanitarian needs will spike as expanded operations push civilians from contested coastal and Taiz areas.
• The campaign will escalate regional tensions. Continued Houthi strikes on Saudi oil facilities will force Riyadh and its partners to sustain or expand aerial operations, which will in turn harden Houthi resistance.
• The government will struggle to reclaim long-held Houthi territory without prolonged coalition air support and a coherent ground strategy. Territorial gains will be local and contestable; full restoration of state control will take months, not days.

What to watch next

• Advances or setbacks around Dhubab, Mokha and the Taiz–Aden road. Loss of that road will effectively besiege Taiz and reshape southern supply lines.
• Patterns of Houthi strikes on Saudi infrastructure and any international responses that widen the conflict.
• Humanitarian indicators: displacement figures, access to ports and aid flows.

How we got here

The conflict began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa. A fragile 2022 truce collapsed in July. In September the Houthis seized large parts of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandeb strait, provoking repeated Saudi-led air strikes and a breakdown in de-escalation efforts.

Our analysis

The outlets provide a consistent factual core but emphasise different details and claims. Rashad al-Alimi's televised order to "begin executing their assigned missions" is quoted directly by Arab News, which adds the government's framing that this is "not a war against any sect or tribe" and highlights Saudi financial support. The BBC reports government claims of ground advances around Dhubab and Mokha, while noting Houthi denials; it also cites casualty and displacement figures supplied by the government. Al Jazeera and France 24 reproduce government and coalition statements about precision strikes and operational counts, but both caution that battlefield reports cannot be independently verified. The Guardian and The New Arab emphasise the Houthis' recent gains and the risk that Taiz will become isolated; the Guardian quotes security and military sources saying the Houthis have "cut the main road" to Taiz. CNBC and The Times of Israel place the offensive in the wider regional context, noting Houthi strikes on Aramco sites and reporting that the US and other partners are providing intelligence or defensive support to Riyadh. Across these sources the persistent pattern is: the government and Saudi-led coalition claim progress and large numbers of Houthi casualties; the Houthis claim retaliatory strikes on Saudi oil infrastructure and deny some ground losses. Independent verification is limited and many casualty and strike counts come from party sources quoted by Saba, Al-Masirah or government spokespeople.

Go deeper

• How will the offensive change shipping safety through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait?
• What humanitarian access is being preserved to aid civilians near Taiz?
• Will regional powers widen their involvement if Houthi attacks on Saudi oil continue?

More on these topics

• Yemen - Country in the Middle East

  Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is the second-largest Arab sovereign state in the peninsula, occupying 527,970 square kilometres.

• Aden - City in Yemen

  Aden is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea, some 170 km east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people.

• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Country in the Middle East

  Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is a country in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula.

• Taiz - City in the Yemeni Highlands

  Taiz (Arabic: تَعِزّ‎, romanized: Taʿizz) is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni Highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, lying at an elevation of about 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) above sea level. It is the capita

• Iran (Islamic Republic of Iran) - Country in the Middle East

  Iran, also called Persia, and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and Azerbaijan, to the north by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan a

• Sanaa - Capital of Yemen

  Sanaa, also spelled Sanaʽa or Sana, is the largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governorate, but forms the separate administrative district of "Amanat Al-Asemah".

• Saudi Aramco - Company

  Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian multinational petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue.

• The United States of America - Country in North America

  The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico.

• Red Sea - Inlet

  The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.

• Houthis

  The Houthi movement, officially called Ansar Allah and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamic political and armed movement that emerged from Sa'dah in northern Yemen in the 1990s.

• World Food Programme - Nonprofit organization

  The World Food Programme is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.

• Israel - Country in the Middle East

  Israel, formally known as the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea.