The latest:
Houthi fighters have pushed to within 80 kilometres of Aden, the main stronghold and interim capital of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, four military sources told Reuters. The sources said the fighters seized the whole Maqatira area three days after launching their assault, forcing government troops back toward Tor Al-Baha. It is their closest approach to the city since 2015.
Details:
- The front line: Clashes continued at an army camp at the entrance to Tor Al-Baha district, one of the main routes into Aden, the sources said. The camp lies roughly 50 kilometres from the capital of Lahj province and 80 kilometres from Aden itself.
- The road at stake: The advance threatens positions along the main road linking Aden to Taiz, the last remaining link between government-held territory and Yemen’s third-largest city, the sources said. The siege there began in early October when the Houthis cut the road south, displacing more than 100,000 people and causing shortages of food, fuel and medicine, according to Reuters.
- The wider offensive: The push follows a broader offensive launched in September, when Houthi forces swept Yemen’s Red Sea coast and took territory along the Bab al-Mandab strait, a critical shipping lane and a main route for Saudi oil exports to Asia.
- Encirclement risk: The military sources said the advance gives the Houthis an opening to encircle government forces along the mountain range overlooking Bab al-Mandab, terrain government troops had cleared of Houthi fighters only weeks earlier.
- Strikes on Aden: Attacks on Aden have intensified in recent weeks. The group shelled Aden airport on Wednesday after telling residents to evacuate, and the presidential palace was also shelled in October.
- Taiz fighting: Al Jazeera correspondent Hadeel Al-Yamani reported government forces carried out air strikes on Houthi positions on the Aqrudh front southeast of Taiz, after ambushes repelled an attempted Houthi advance. Western, eastern and northern fronts were described as cautiously quiet.
- Lahj manoeuvre: Al-Yamani reported Houthi fighters tried to flank through the Jumruk area after their push from Hayjat al-Abd and Tor Al-Baha stalled, seeking Mount Munif, a 1,300-metre height overlooking Shamaytayn district and offering distant sightlines toward Aden.
- Government claims: Yemen’s armed forces spokesman Colonel Majed Al-Nuzaili said 1,119 operations in recent hours under the Fajr al-Yemen campaign neutralised 427 Houthi personnel and destroyed or disabled 142 vehicles and pieces of military equipment.
- Counter-accusation: Houthi-affiliated media accused Saudi Arabia of 66 air and missile strikes in 24 hours on Sanaa and the provinces of Jawf, Taiz, Saada, Hajjah and Lahj, putting the total since the escalation began at 3,755, with casualties including women and children but no figure given.
- No comment: Yemen’s minister of information, culture and tourism had not responded to a request for comment, Reuters said. A Houthi official posted video said to show fighters entering a market in Maqatira.
Background:
Yemen’s war has run more than 12 years since the Houthis took Sanaa in September 2014. A UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major attacks until fighting resumed, and more than a decade of attempts at a political settlement has failed.
Between the lines:
Two campaigns are now running in opposite directions at once. Government forces say they retook commanding heights east of Al-Hazm in Jawf, seizing Houthi weapons depots, while Houthi fighters closed on Aden in the southwest. The Bab al-Mandab positions changed hands twice within weeks, pointing to front lines neither side can yet hold.
What’s next
Watch whether Houthi forces take the Tor Al-Baha camp and sever the Taiz-Aden road entirely, the pace of Saudi-led coalition strikes, and any government response on the Fajr al-Yemen campaign launched on 5 October.
