{"id":2453,"date":"2026-10-10T18:03:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T13:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2453"},"modified":"2026-10-10T18:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T13:03:49","slug":"yemen-govt-forces-push-towards-bab-al-mandab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2453","title":{"rendered":"Yemen govt forces push towards Bab al-Mandab"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Yemeni military sources told AFP<\/em> on Saturday that their forces were advancing against the Houthis in areas around the Bab al-Mandsb strait but have not yet secured control of the waterway, after the government launched an operation to capture lost territory.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Saudi-backed government last week announced a counter-offensive aimed at retaking all areas held by the Houthis, after the pro-Iran group seized Yemen\u2019s entire western coastline in a lightning offensive.<\/p>\n

The Houthis confirmed that government forces had attacked in the Bab al-Mandeb area, but they claimed to have repelled the assault.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaudi-led forces attempted to advance from the Ras al-Ara area in Lahj governorate towards the area south of Bab al-Mandab,\u201d Hizam al-Asad, a member of the Houthis\u2019 political bureau, told AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, our forces repelled them outside the Bab al-Mandab zone, inflicting heavy losses in personnel and equipment and forcing the survivors to retreat.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur forces maintain control over Bab al-Mandab, Mayun Island, and the remaining areas along the country\u2019s western coast,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sources from the military of Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government also said Mayun Island \u2014 located in the heart of the strait \u2014 remained in Houthi hands as fighting continued.<\/p>\n

Claims by the warring parties have been impossible to independently verify, with the situation moving fast on the ground and access for journalists difficult.<\/p>\n

Clashes in western Yemen, specifically around the strait, had killed at least 63 people in the past 24 hours, military sources from both sides told AFP<\/em> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Thirty-five members of government forces had been killed, while 28 Houthis had died, the sources said.<\/p>\n

On Friday, a Yemeni military source confirmed to AFP<\/em> that their forces had launched a \u201cmajor operation\u201d in the strait region, supported by air power from Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

After four years of relative calm, Yemen\u2019s civil war reignited in July before the Houthi gains on Yemen\u2019s western coastline.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia leads an international military coalition helping the Yemeni government fight the Houthis.<\/p>\n

Early on Saturday, the coalition said it had destroyed more than 130 Houthi targets in a \u201clarge-scale operation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Houthis\u2019 Al-Masirah TV<\/em> channel reported on Saturday that enemy strikes had targeted the Bab al-Mandab area.<\/p>\n

It also reported four Saudi strikes on the capital Sanaa\u2019s international airport on Saturday, a day after saying two were killed in a Saudi strike on the airport.<\/p>\n

In addition to battling Yemeni government forces on the ground, the Houthis have also been firing on targets inside Saudi Arabia, attacking transport hubs, oil facilities and other civilian sites with drones and missiles.<\/p>\n

Riyadh said on Friday that attacks on the Saudi capital\u2019s international airport had killed three people the previous day.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia has been retaliating with strikes on key Houthi targets inside Yemen. Houthi media reported on Friday that two people had died in attacks on the airport in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.<\/p>\n

Ordinary civilians have been paying the price for the renewed fighting in one of the world\u2019s poorest countries, with more than 200,000 people displaced since July, according to UN data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yemeni military sources told AFP on Saturday that their forces were advancing against the Houthis in areas around the Bab al-Mandsb strait but have not yet secured control of the waterway, after the government launched an operation to capture lost territory. The Saudi-backed government last week announced a counter-offensive aimed at retaking all areas held by the Houthis, after the pro-Iran group seized Yemen\u2019s entire western coastline in a lightning offensive. The Houthis confirmed that government forces had attacked in the Bab al-Mandeb area, but they claimed to have repelled…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}