A round of military escalation between Yemen’s government forces, backed by the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy, and the Houthi group has spread to 18 of the country’s 22 governorates, after the clashes gradually shifted from air strikes to ground battles and operations in coastal and maritime areas, reaching locations deep inside areas controlled by both sides.
The current round follows four years of calm and de-escalation, and 12 years since the war began without either side managing to resolve the conflict militarily, while diplomatic efforts have failed to reach a political settlement. The governorates of Raymah, Al Mahwit, Al Mahrah and Socotra remain beyond the direct fighting, although Al Mahrah has received displaced people from combat areas.
Death, injury and displacement toll
According to the latest report by the World Health Organisation, the escalation between government forces and the Houthis since last August has left 959 people dead and 4,207 injured, in addition to displacing nearly 198,000 people. Displacement has been concentrated mainly in Taiz, Lahj, Aden, Abyan and Hodeidah, as well as in other governorates that have received varying numbers of families fleeing the conflict zones.
The current round began to take shape in late June, when the Houthis announced mobilisation and general readiness, and what they described as a “new field phase” to end what they called the “siege”. Since then, attacks have expanded to include front lines, airports, ports, military positions and cities controlled by both sides.
Taiz battles and shifting control lines
Taiz governorate, in south-western Yemen, is witnessing the fiercest battles, air strikes and reciprocal attacks. The escalation there began in August following Houthi missile and drone attacks on positions in the city of Mokha and its port overlooking the Red Sea. In September, the clashes turned into large-scale ground battles after an intensive Houthi attack on front lines in the west of the governorate.
Government forces withdrew from the districts of Al Wazi’iyah, Mawza, Mokha and Dhu Bab, while the Houthi advance reached the Bab Al Mandab area and the islands of Mayyun, Zugar, and Greater and Lesser Hanish. On 10 September, the group consolidated its control over those strategically important areas.
The Houthis announced on 4 October that they had taken control of the Al Turbah area and the districts of Al Shamayatayn and Sama in Taiz. These developments marked the most significant shift in the map of field influence during the escalation, as well as a major loss for government forces, which announced on Monday the launch of Operation “Dawn of Yemen” to retake Houthi-held areas and advance towards Sanaa.
Government forces said they had retaken Bab Al Mandab and the districts of Dhu Bab and Mokha, but the Houthis denied this and said they had retained their gains on the ground. They also announced that they had taken control of Al Mawasit district. At the same time, clashes continued in the countryside and areas around Taiz city, the governorate capital controlled by government forces, amid Houthi attempts to advance towards it.
Government forces announced on Tuesday the launch of a broad military operation to retake Al Wazi’iyah district, saying they had established control over strategic hills overlooking the Al Mansoura area. Al Wazi’iyah is militarily important because of its location and its role in securing the forces’ advance along the western coast.
Displacement and the military and humanitarian importance of Hodeidah’s ports
The largest wave of displacement is concentrated in Taiz, where the government’s Executive Unit for Managing Displaced Persons’ Camps recorded the displacement of 13,925 families comprising 97,529 people, distributed across 15 districts in the governorate. In Hodeidah, on the Red Sea, the fighting is significant because the governorate has three ports: Hodeidah port, a main artery for the entry of humanitarian aid and goods; Salif port; and the oil port of Ras Isa.
The Houthis took control of the governorate after seizing Sanaa, before government forces reached the outskirts of Hodeidah city in 2018. The battle stopped after the Stockholm Agreement was reached, aimed at addressing the situation in the governorate and preventing further fighting, but its provisions were not implemented amid mutual accusations between the two sides.
In 2021, government forces unexpectedly withdrew from several areas and concentrated in the districts of Hays and Khokha, while the governorate centre and the remaining districts stayed under Houthi control. During the latest escalation, front lines in Hays and Khokha saw attacks and battles before government forces withdrew again, allowing the Houthis on 10 September to take the government’s last strongholds in Hodeidah.
Government forces carried out air strikes on Houthi positions in the governorate, while the coalition announced two attacks on targets there. The fighting displaced 1,471 families comprising 10,297 people from Hays and Khokha, with indications of secondary displacement by those families towards Aden, according to a report by the government unit responsible for displaced people.
Since taking control of Sanaa, the Houthis have attempted to seize the governorate centre and launched their fiercest attacks in 2020 and 2021, but the army managed to repel them. The governorate returned to the forefront of the fighting in August, when the Houthis attacked government positions and Marib city with missiles and drones.
In response, government forces launched operations on the southern, western and northern fronts, saying they had made advances along several axes. Marib is important to their operations because of its geographical connection to Sanaa. Despite the intensity of the fighting, the governorate has received 412 displaced families from other governorates in recent weeks.
In Al Jawf governorate in the north, operations are taking place in an area connected to a broad border strip with Saudi Arabia and linked to the governorates of Hadramout, Marib, Saada, Sanaa and Amran, 143 kilometres from Sanaa. The two sides exchanged control of Al Hazm, the governorate’s administrative centre, several times before the Houthis took it in March 2020 after fierce clashes.
The government currently controls most of the desert district of Khab wa Al Sha’af in eastern Al Jawf. It is the governorate’s largest district and accounts for 82% of its total area, while the Houthis control Al Hazm city and 10 of the 12 other districts.
Government forces began offensive operations against Houthi positions in early September and announced that they had retaken the Al Yatmah area in Khab wa Al Sha’af district, before the Houthis said they had retaken the area’s market. Government forces also said they had advanced east of Al Hazm to the vicinity of Bir Al Maraziq and cut Houthi supply lines on the city’s eastern fronts.
The forces added that they had taken control of Al Mutahaffat, Al Masariya Hill and the hills next to Al Faraid Hill north of Al Labanat Al Ulya, as well as earth berms and trenches extending for about 20 kilometres from Al Duhayda positions through Al Saara to Bir Al Maraziq east of Al Hazm.
The repercussions of the Houthi advance along the western coast reached the government-held governorate of Lahj, the northern and western gateway to Aden. Through the district of Al Mudharabah wa Ras Al Ara, it also overlooks an important coastal strip near the Bab Al Mandab Strait. Clashes and shelling erupted on the outskirts of Al Mudharabah district, which borders Dhu Bab district and the Bab Al Mandab area.
The Houthis attempted to seize the Kahbub mountains to secure their presence in the strait area, alongside clashes in the southern areas of Taiz bordering Lahj. Lahj ranked second among governorates receiving displaced people after 7,179 families comprising 50,253 people arrived there, distributed across nine districts. Most came from combat areas in Taiz and Hodeidah, according to Yemeni government data.
In the centre of the country, Al Bayda serves as a link between eight governorates: Houthi-held Sanaa, Dhamar and Ibb; Marib, which is jointly controlled by the two sides; and Shabwa, Lahj, Abyan and Al Dhale’e, which are controlled by government forces. On 7 September, government forces announced a military operation towards Al Bayda from Lahj aimed at retaking the governorate.
They said they had taken positions on the Al Zahir front, including Hayd Al Khazzan and Al Fलीhan, and continued advancing towards the Nasifah sub-district. Since then, Houthi positions and reinforcements in Al Bayda have come under air strikes carried out by government forces using warplanes and drones, alongside activity on fronts in the governorate linked to Abyan, Shabwa and Al Dhale’e.
In Al Dhale’e, government forces control most districts, including Al Dhale’e city, while front lines extend to areas bordering Al Bayda and Ibb. Fronts from the Ibb side have seen intermittent clashes and reciprocal shelling since the escalation began, but they have remained less intense than those in Taiz, Marib and Al Jawf. The governorate received 240 displaced families from other areas.
The oil-rich governorate of Shabwa is under government control, but it periodically witnesses attacks and reciprocal shelling along the front lines with Al Bayda, according to statements by the government-affiliated Shabwa Defence Forces. The governorate recently received 116 displaced families. In Abyan, which is also under government control, fronts linked to Al Bayda have recorded intermittent clashes and attacks with the Houthis.
The governorate is hosting 2,097 displaced families comprising 14,679 people, living in camps and settlements in the districts of Khanfar and Zinjibar. Saada, the Houthis’ main stronghold bordering Saudi Arabia, is mostly under the group’s control, with government forces present in some border areas. Government forces and the coalition announced strikes on positions in the governorate, while the Houthis reported air strikes and shelling targeting some districts.
The front lines also saw attacks and clashes that did not change the map of control. In Hajjah in the north-west, the Houthis have controlled most of the governorate since 2014, while government forces are deployed in parts of four districts: the coastal Midi, Haradh, which borders Saudi Arabia, Hayran and Abs.
The governorate has witnessed intermittent clashes and attacks. Government forces announce air strikes on Houthi positions, while the Houthis confirm them in their statements. Sanaa has remained at the centre of the escalation since it began and has been under Houthi control since 21 September 2014, while government forces say their operations are aimed at reaching the capital.
The first clashes linked to the new round emerged against the backdrop of flights between Tehran and Sanaa. On 3 July, an Iran-based Mahan Air flight arrived at Sanaa airport. Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council described the flight as a violation of the country’s sovereignty and a challenge to international law, and vowed to prevent its recurrence. The Houthis, meanwhile, insisted that flights between Tehran and Sanaa should continue.
On 13 July, while a second Iranian flight was flying in Yemeni airspace, the Defence Ministry announced that it had targeted the runway at Sanaa International Airport to prevent the aircraft from landing, forcing it to head to Hodeidah airport and land there.
In the early hours of 18 September, explosions occurred in Sanaa as drones flew over the city. Hours later, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had thwarted what he described as “criminal schemes” and accused Saudi Arabia of being behind them, while government forces did not claim responsibility for the incident.
Drone overflights and explosions continued in the following days, before Colonel Majid Al Nuzaili, spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces, announced in early October that targets of “high value” had been struck in Sanaa. The armed forces later announced strikes, which they described as “painful”, against vital Houthi targets in the city.
In Aden, the government-held temporary capital, government forces announced that they had intercepted and shot down suicide drones they said belonged to the Houthis, the latest of which was on 2 October. The governorate received 3,741 displaced families comprising 17,782 people in recent weeks, distributed across its eight districts.
Amran lies north of Sanaa and Dhamar to its south; both are deep inside Houthi-held areas and are not connected to direct front lines with government forces. Government forces have not announced attacks there since the round began, but Yahya Saree has repeatedly reported air strikes in the two governorates and accused Saudi Arabia of carrying them out.
In Ibb, whose districts are all controlled by the Houthis, clashes and reciprocal attacks are taking place along the front lines with Al Dhale’e. The Houthis also announced twice in recent days that positions in the governorate had come under air strikes. Attacks also reached Hadramout in eastern Yemen, the country’s largest governorate, covering an estimated 193,000 square kilometres and accounting for one-third of Yemen’s area.
Its border with Saudi Arabia extends for more than 700 kilometres, representing half of Yemen’s border with the kingdom. It also overlooks the Arabian Sea and includes the ports of Mukalla, Ash Shihr and the oil port of Al Dhaba. Hadramout contains the Al Wadi’ah border crossing, the only land artery with Saudi Arabia since the war began in 2015, as well as Al Rayyan International and Seiyun airports and oil and gas fields, including fields operated by the state-owned PetroMasila company.
Government forces control the entire governorate, which has no direct front line with the Houthis but borders Al Jawf and Marib. During August, the Houthis launched missile and drone attacks targeting positions in the Al Wadi’ah and Al Abr areas of western Hadramout. The governorate received 214 displaced families as a result of the escalation.
Raymah and Al Mahwit, in the north and under Houthi control, remain outside the fighting, which has entered its fourth month. The governorates of Al Mahrah and Socotra, under government control, have also remained بعيدين from direct military operations. Al Mahrah is Yemen’s second-largest governorate after Hadramout, bordered by the Rub Al Khali desert to the north, the Arabian Sea to the south and Oman to the east.
It has a coastline stretching for about 560 kilometres, as well as the land crossings of Sarfait and Shahan with Oman, the port of Nishtun and Al Ghaydah International Airport. In recent days, it received 124 families from areas affected by the escalation. The Socotra archipelago lies east of the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean and east of the Horn of Africa, about 350 kilometres from Yemen’s southern coast.
The archipelago, along with Al Mahrah, Raymah, Al Mahwit and Socotra, has remained away from direct battlefields so far.
