Yemen's Houthis claim major west-coast gains as government forces report advances

Yemen's Houthis said they had driven Saudi-backed government forces out of six districts across Taiz and Hodeidah provinces in a large ground offensive, a claim the internationally recognised government rejected as it reported gains of its own, Al-Masirah reported.

The competing accounts mark an intensification of fighting on Yemen's western Red Sea coast, where the Houthis have pushed towards the port of Mokha and the Bab al-Mandeb strait since a 2022 truce collapsed this year, in an offensive tied to their naval blockade of Saudi-linked shipping and the wider regional escalation around Iran.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement that the operation, launched on September 3 with tribal support, had recaptured more than 5,400 square kilometres in Taiz and Hodeidah, targeted seven enemy divisions comprising 38 brigades, and killed, captured or wounded hundreds.

Yemeni Houthi forces sweep to the Red Sea coastline in latest push south towards Aden. Houthi gunman seen by Murad authority buildings. 

He said Houthi forces had freed detainees and downed nine aircraft in 32 intercept operations. The claims could not be independently verified. Unconfirmed reports said that Houthi forces had killed Saudi-backed military personnel, including Major General Farouq Al-Kholani on September 11,

Saree, who referred to government forces as Saudi mercenaries, said the offensive succeeded despite heavy Saudi air cover.

He said maritime traffic remained safe for all shipping except previously banned Saudi vessels, and that the group would press on under its "blockade for blockade" and "escalation for escalation" formulas until attacks on Yemen stopped.

The Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) gave a sharply different account. Its chairman, Rashad al-Alimi, said government forces had made significant gains against the Houthis in al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Taiz and Hodeidah, and pledged to continue until state authority was restored across Yemen.

Government-aligned media said at least 50 Houthis, including two field commanders, had been killed or wounded in a 24-hour period, and that forces had recaptured hills west of Taiz and taken full control of Hays district.

Currently unconfirmed reports also say that Houthi missiles have struck the Saudi East-West pipeline north of Yemen to Yanbu, effectively disconnecting the Persian Gulf workaround, with Brent crude reaching $106 a barrel, and Riyadh authorities not yet confirming if the pipeline has been taken offline. 

The fighting is among the heaviest in Yemen since the 2022 truce, with more than 100 people reported killed in recent clashes. The Houthis' westward push has raised the risk to Bab al-Mandeb, a chokepoint that gained importance after Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz during its war with the US and Israel this year.