Yemen Fighting Spreads From al-Jawf to Taiz as Houthis Claim Strikes on Saudi Airports

Yemen's war has widened on several fronts at once. Fighting has spread through al-Jawf in the north, Lahij and Taiz in the southwest, and along the Red Sea coast. The Houthis, also called Ansar Allah, say they struck Saudi airports and military sites over the past 48 hours. Saudi Arabia says it intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile and drones on Sunday and Monday. The internationally recognized Yemeni government says its forces have taken key ground in al-Jawf. Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, remains cut off, and local officials warn of a health crisis.

Most battlefield figures here come from the parties to the fighting and could not be checked by independent reporters. Each claim is labeled by its source. The report draws on Al Jazeera, Anadolu Agency, Xinhua, Asharq Al-Awsat, the Houthi-run Saba news agency and an analysis from the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War (CTP-ISW).

Fighting in al-Jawf

Al Jazeera reported on Monday that government forces launched a counteroffensive to take high ground east of al-Hazm, the provincial capital. The Houthis have held al-Hazm since March 2020. The push is part of Operation Dawn of Yemen, which the government began in October to regain territory from the Houthis, who have controlled Sanaa since 2014. Anadolu Agency dates the start of the operation to Oct. 5.

A government field commander, Col. Rabie al-Qurashi, told Al Jazeera that forces had won "complete control" of the Huwaishan mountain range. He called it the first line of defense for the Houthis on the eastern axis. The Houthis say they have thwarted government advances in al-Jawf and Marib, according to Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera reported that the Houthis control al-Hazm and 10 other districts. The government holds the vast eastern desert district, which makes up 82 percent of the governorate's area.

An outside analyst, Ali al-Dahab, told Al Jazeera that holding the heights gives government forces a view of Houthi supply lines. CTP-ISW reported that Saudi Arabia reportedly gave close air support, including with an Apache helicopter. It said it could not verify whether the government captured the Dahida area on Monday.

The army spokesman said government forces carried out 1,272 "targeting operations" in 24 hours. He said about 500 Houthi fighters and commanders were "neutralized" and 169 vehicles, pieces of equipment and heavy weapons were destroyed or disabled. Anadolu noted that the statement did not say how many were killed or wounded. Al Jazeera said it could not verify the figures.

Lahij and the road to Aden

In the south, the Houthis have pushed into al-Maqatirah district in northern Lahij. CTP-ISW reported that the group captured mountain positions there on Monday. It said they overlook Tur al-Bahah, which lies between Taiz's mountains and the coastal plain that leads to Aden. In its analysis, the advances threaten the last government-held stretch of the Taiz-Aden road. CTP-ISW also judged that the Houthis may struggle to hold ground on the lowland if government forces keep air support.

Asharq Al-Awsat reported that government forces sent reinforcements from the Southern Giants Brigades and the Nation's Shield Forces to al-Maqatirah. They took over the Tur al-Bahah military command headquarters and joined the front line. The paper cited field sources who said the Houthis were pushed back after casualties. The same report said fighting resumed on the Bab al-Mandab front on Monday. It said the Giants Brigades retook several positions in western Lahij.

The Giants Brigades' media chief denied rumors that his units had withdrawn from Dhubab and the western coast. He said they would not withdraw under pressure from what he called rumors and false claims. These are claims from one side. The paper did not report a Houthi response.

Taiz under siege

Al Jazeera reported that Houthi forces have blocked food, fuel and medical supplies from entering Taiz since early October. The city has about one million residents. The governor of Taiz, Nabil Shamsan, said hospitals are working at only 20 percent capacity. He said 120 health centers have closed. Another 66 are close to closing, according to Al Jazeera's second report. "We urge the international community to secure at least one safe route between Taiz and Aden," he said.

A member of a committee that supports the Taiz siege-affairs office told Al Jazeera that at least 23 trucks were damaged or overturned in two weeks while using other routes. Authorities say snipers on the surrounding hills threaten civilians. Anadolu reported that Yemen's Interior Ministry said a Houthi drone struck a home in western Taiz. It said the strike killed a woman and a girl and wounded another woman.

Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on a market in al-Makhaaf, in al-Misrakh district south of Taiz city. It blamed forces aligned with the government and backed by the Saudi-led coalition, Xinhua reported. It called the toll preliminary. Neither Saudi authorities nor the government had commented, and Xinhua said the claims could not be verified. The government's army said earlier that it had struck Houthi positions in al-Misrakh.

Local sources also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi fighters raided and seized homes of government and community figures in al-Shamayatayn district, south of Taiz. Those sources named a government minister among the owners. 567 Politics did not find a Houthi statement on those reports.

According to Al Jazeera, more than 300,000 people have fled their homes in western Yemen as the fighting escalated. Anadolu cited UN reports that put the number displaced since the July escalation at more than a quarter of a million. The two figures cover different areas and periods.

Strikes across the Saudi border

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, said in a statement carried by Saba that Houthi forces carried out three operations in 48 hours. They hit Dammam airport in two phases with two drones, he said, and "led to the disruption of air traffic." He said a drone made a "direct" hit on an early-warning radar in Jizan. He said a military transport plane at Jizan airport was also targeted. Xinhua noted there was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on those claims.

The coalition spokesman, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, said air defenses "intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile" aimed at Saudi Arabia's southern region on Monday. He said a drone launched toward the south on Sunday evening was also destroyed. Saudi civil defense issued, then lifted, alerts for Abha, Khamis Mushait, Taif and Najran. The authority warned residents against filming or sharing information about attacks. The Saudi joint forces command also reported two drones intercepted over Riyadh Province, according to CTP-ISW.

Houthi-affiliated media reported that seven people were wounded in coalition air strikes on Hodeidah. They said four were hurt at the Ras Isa port dock and three at an oil company site in Bajil. The coalition did not comment, Al Jazeera said. Xinhua also relayed al-Masirah's reports of Saudi strikes on a telecom network in Saada province and two Saudi air strikes in al-Shamayatayn. The channel reported no casualties there.

CTP-ISW assessed that the Houthi strike campaign aims to push Saudi Arabia to halt military operations. It listed the group's demands as an end to Saudi controls on Houthi-held ports and airports and control of Yemen's oil and gas. That is the analysts' reading. 567 Politics did not find the Houthis stating those demands in the sources it opened.

Diplomacy

The chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council met the British minister for the Middle East, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. He urged London to help designate the Houthis a terrorist organization and to target their finances and arms supplies. He said shipping lanes cannot be secure while the group's sources of strength stay untouched. The report said an international support conference for Yemen is being prepared for the end of November. Britain holds the pen on Yemen at the UN Security Council.

The Yemen fighting is tied to the wider regional crisis, though how closely is disputed. Al Jazeera's report describes the Houthis as Iran-aligned. 567 Politics has not seen evidence in the sources it opened of how far Tehran directs Houthi operations. For the Iran-US track, see 567 Politics' reports on the Qeshm Island strikes, Iran's stance on uranium, the Doha talks and Treasury's claims about Iran's economy.

What each side says

What is established and what is not

Funding and financial-interest context

This article does not quote any U.S. politician, so it makes no claims about campaign funding or financial interests. The Yemeni, Saudi and British officials named by title are outside U.S. campaign-finance records.

Differing perspectives

What is driving the escalation in Yemen, and what do the parties say should happen next?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Defend Saudi territory and back government forces

  Who holds it: The Saudi-led coalition

  The coalition spokesman says air defenses intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at southern Saudi Arabia, and a drone launched on Sunday evening. Saudi civil defense issued and lifted alerts in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Taif and Najran. Analysts report Saudi air support for government ground forces in al-Jawf. The coalition did not comment on Houthi reports of air strikes in Hodeidah, which say seven people were wounded.

  In their words: Al Jazeera ↗

• Houthi gains may be hard to hold

  Who holds it: Analysts at CTP-ISW

  The Critical Threats Project and the Institute for the Study of War say Houthi advances in Lahij aim to pose several dilemmas at once for the government. In their assessment, the group's positions in al-Maqatirah threaten the Taiz-Aden road and the route to Aden. They also judge that Houthi forces may struggle to hold lowland terrain if government forces keep air support. They add that they cannot verify several battlefield claims.

  In their words: Critical Threats Project / Institute for the Study of War ↗

• Open a safe route to besieged Taiz

  Who holds it: Taiz local authorities

  Taiz's governor says hospitals are working at 20 percent capacity and 120 health centers have closed because of the siege. He asks the international community to secure at least one safe route between Taiz and Aden so civilians, services and supplies can move. Local officials also report sniper fire from surrounding hills and say trucks have been damaged or overturned on alternate routes. More than 300,000 people have fled their homes in western Yemen.

  In their words: Al Jazeera ↗

• Press the offensive to restore state control

  Who holds it: Yemen's internationally recognized government

  The government says Operation Dawn of Yemen aims to restore state institutions and regain territory the Houthis have held since 2014. Its army spokesman reports 1,272 operations in 24 hours and says the operations support ground advances in al-Jawf, including control of the Huwaishan range. Its leaders ask Britain and other partners to designate the Houthis a terrorist organization and to target the group's finances and arms supplies.

  In their words: Anadolu Agency ↗

• Resist the offensive and strike Saudi targets

  Who holds it: The Houthi movement (Ansar Allah)

  The Houthis say they thwarted government advances in al-Jawf and Marib. Their military spokesman says drones hit Dammam airport, a radar in Jizan and a transport plane at Jizan airport. Houthi-run media report that a market attack in Taiz killed at least 10 people and that Saudi strikes hit a telecommunications network in Saada. They blame the government and its coalition backers. Saudi authorities and the government had not commented on those reports.

  In their words: Xinhua ↗