{"id":607754,"date":"2026-09-06T15:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/607754\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T15:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:16:11","slug":"how-significant-are-the-yemeni-governments-military-gains-against-houthis-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/607754\/","title":{"rendered":"How significant are the Yemeni government\u2019s military gains against Houthis? | Conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government says its forces have made significant gains<\/a> against the Houthis as fighting has escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of a return to full-scale war.<\/p>\n

The government forces on Saturday said they had recaptured strategically located territory in Hodeidah province under Houthi control and advanced in western Taiz.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

However, the latest gains do not yet amount to a decisive shift in Yemen\u2019s long-running war.<\/p>\n

The Iran-aligned Houthis still control the capital, Sanaa, and several other cities, and have themselves recently advanced around Taiz as they seek to threaten the government-held port of al-Makha (Mocha) and move towards areas bordering the strategically vital Bab al-Mandeb strait, the chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea.<\/p>\n

The fighting comes amid a wider regional conflict involving Saudi Arabia, which is a key backer of the Yemeni government.<\/p>\n

Riyadh has carried out air strikes against positions recently captured by the Houthis, as the battle increasingly focuses on territory leading towards one of the world\u2019s most important shipping routes.<\/p>\n

Here is what you need to know:<\/p>\n

What is the latest fighting on the ground?<\/p>\n

The government forces have been fighting the Houthis across several fronts, with some of the heaviest clashes in Taiz and Hodeidah provinces, and along the western Red Sea coast.<\/p>\n

The SABA news agency, controlled by Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government, reported on Saturday that the Yemeni military had taken control of Hais district in Hodeidah, citing an unidentified military source.<\/p>\n

Hais is strategically located at the junction of Hodeidah, Taiz and Ibb provinces. The Houthis have yet to comment on this latest development.<\/p>\n

The source also said government forces have regained areas around the al-Barh junction in western Taiz and advanced towards Houthi positions. Taiz is divided between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.<\/p>\n

Fayad al-Numan, a Yemeni Information Ministry official, said government forces had also captured dozens of Houthi fighters during clashes in al-Jarahi district in southern Hodeidah.<\/p>\n

Clashes in Taiz killed more than 60 people, including civilians, on Saturday, the AFP news agency reported.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, fighting erupted as Houthi forces launched a major offensive along front lines in western Taiz and southern Hodeidah, using ballistic missiles, drones and artillery as ground forces attempted to advance towards government-held territory along the Red Sea coast.<\/p>\n

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that about 1,800 families have been displaced over the past two days as fighting escalated in Taiz.<\/p>\n

Fighting renewed in early August after months of calm when Yemeni government forces launched attacks on Houthi positions across multiple front lines.<\/p>\n

The Yemeni government re-established control over major southern and eastern territories following a Saudi-backed counteroffensive and the subsequent dissolution of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in January.<\/p>\n

They now aim to unite Yemen after bringing the areas under Houthi control under one administration.<\/p>\n

But the Houthis have pushed towards government-held areas near al-Makha and territory bordering the Bab al-Mandeb strait amid reinforcements and counteroffensives from the government forces.<\/p>\n

The latest escalation follows a period of relative calm in Yemen that had largely held since a UN-brokered truce in April 2022. The ceasefire brought an end to major fighting since the Houthis\u2019 capture of much of the country, including Sanaa, in 2014.<\/p>\n

But Thursday\u2019s attacks hint at a return to large-scale conflict.<\/p>\n

Are Yemen\u2019s forces regaining control?<\/p>\n

The capture of Hais could be significant because of its position linking Hodeidah, Taiz and Ibb, while advances around al-Barh could help government forces push back against Houthi forces in western Taiz.<\/p>\n

Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad al-Alimi said Yemen\u2019s armed forces were capable of restoring control over the entire country and warned that Houthi \u201cmiscalculations\u201d would lead to their \u201ccomplete collapse\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, it is too early to describe the developments as a significant shift in control.<\/p>\n

\"SoldiersSoldiers loyal to Yemen\u2019s Saudi-backed government stand near pick-up trucks in the Hais district, south of Hodeidah on September 5, 2026 [AFP]<\/p>\n

The Houthis had themselves seized positions near Taiz shortly before the government counteroffensive, according to an AFP news agency citing a military officer.<\/p>\n

Houthi forces have also been attempting to cut off the government-held port of al-Makha, and advance towards areas bordering the Bab al-Mandeb strait.<\/p>\n

The scale of government losses also shows how contested the battlefield remains. Twenty-six government soldiers were killed in several hours of fighting on Saturday alone, according to AFP\u2019s military sources.<\/p>\n

What is Saudi\u2019s role in the conflict?<\/p>\n

The escalation is also increasingly intertwined with the wider regional conflict linked to the US-Israel war on Iran.<\/p>\n

The Iran-backed Houthis announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in July and began targeting Saudi ships and territory, while Saudi Arabia has carried out air strikes against Houthi positions in Taiz.<\/p>\n

Bab al-Mandeb has become particularly important after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. The Hormuz blockade has triggered a global energy crisis and is pushing the global economy into turbulence.<\/p>\n

The waterway is a key transit route for Saudi oil, one of only two exit-entry points to the Red Sea, the other being the Suez Canal, raising the stakes as Houthi forces attempt to advance towards areas bordering the strait.<\/p>\n

In July, Saudi Arabia announced a mission to form an international alliance to guard the Red Sea from attacks on shipping by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government says its forces have made significant gains against the Houthis as fighting has escalated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1153,5697,42,47,43,40,38,41,39,2893],"class_list":["post-607754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-conflict","tag-explainer","tag-headlines","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-yemen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}