Yemen's government declares counter-offensive as Houthis cut vital route to besieged city
The leader of Yemen's Saudi-backed government announced the beginning of a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthis on Sunday aimed at recapturing territory under their control. The announcement came as Houthi forces cut off a vital supply route to the besieged government-held city of Taiz, according to several security sources.
Issued on: 04/10/2026
By: FRANCE 24
The head of Yemen's presidential council on Sunday announced the start of a new military operation to retake all territory held by Iran-backed Houthi fighters.
"I announce today the start of military operations to retake the remaining territories of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory," Rashad al-Alimi said in a statement.
Alimi called on "the armed forces, security forces and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned missions, in accordance with the approved plans, until the country is liberated from the grip of the Houthi terrorist militia".
The announcement marks the latest major escalation in the war against the Houthis following a rapid offensive by the Iran-backed group last month that saw them seize large swaths of the Red Sea coastline.
Earlier Sunday, several security sources also told AFP that the group had effectively encircled Taiz after cutting the main supply route to the government-held city.
The Houthi advance follows days of heavy fighting in and around the city of Taiz between the group and government forces.
"We were informed that the Houthis had taken control of the al-Safiya area, where they cut the main road and took control of the police station," a police source in the area told AFP.
Three sources with the Yemeni military also confirmed Houthi control over the area and supply route, with the group effectively encircling Taiz city.
The military sources added that the Houthis had also halted traffic on the main road linking Taiz to Aden, with fighting in the area ongoing.
The city itself remains under the control of government forces but has long been besieged from the north, east and west by Houthi fighters and remains one of the main fronts in Yemen's civil war.
"They've achieved the military objective of isolating Taiz from Aden, even if they haven't fully taken control of it," Farea Al-Muslimi, research fellow at the Chatham House think-tank, told AFP.
Saudi support
Elsewhere in Yemen, the Houthi's Al-Masirah TV channel reported Saudi strikes in the northern governorates of al-Jawf and Saada, saying at least two people had been wounded.
The strikes come a day after Yemen's government said its forces hit Houthi targets around the country, including in the capital Sanaa, the northwestern governorate of Saada and the group's positions near Taiz in the southwest.
The Yemeni government's air capabilities however remain limited.
Since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the government, it has primarily been Riyadh's forces that have carried out airstrikes against the Houthis.
Experts believe the recent operations have most likely been conducted by Saudi warplanes rather than the Yemeni air force.
Following several years of relative calm, Yemen's war reignited in July against the backdrop of the widening Middle East war.
The country is one of the poorest in the world and remains gripped by a vast humanitarian crisis.
Fighting intensified in September as the Houthis launched a lightning offensive that saw them seize Yemen's entire Red Sea coast, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital shipping lane.
The Houthis have in parallel launched a blockade on Saudi energy exports, already squeezed by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemen's war erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa from the Saudi-backed government, before going on to take control of swaths of the country's north.
Riyadh intervened in the war the following year as the head of the international coalition.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Tanker Reports Attack South of Bab el-Mandeb
The Royal Navy's UK Maritime Trade Operations center (UKMTO) has reported an attempted attack on a tanker at a position south of Mokha, Yemen, the latest in a string of strikes widely attributed to Yemen's Houthi rebel group. The militia, which has been advancing rapidly into areas controlled by the internationally-recognized Republic of Yemen government, has not claimed responsibility for the attempted strike.
At about 1650 hours UTC, the company security officer for a vessel operator informed UKMTO that a tanker's crew had spotted "multiple explosions in close proximity to the vessel." The crew is unharmed and there was no environmental impact, UKMTO said. An inquiry is under way.
UKMTO advises vessels to proceed with caution near Bab el-Mandeb. Recent Houthi strikes have focused narrowly on Saudi-linked vessels, both in the group's rhetoric and in its actual attack patterns, but EOS Risk Group's Martin Kelly warns that Houthi target selection criteria have previously tended to expand when hostilities escalate.
The attempted strike followed just hours after the Yemeni government publicly announced the launch of a major military operation targeting Houthi positions, with active support from Saudi forces. The Houthis have been making significant military gains against the IRG in recent weeks, seizing most of Yemen's Red Sea coastline and advancing on key government positions. They have also engaged in a series of effective attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting Aramco's energy infrastructure with significant effects. Over the weekend, a Houthi drone and missile attack reportedly reached a refinery in Riyadh, 500 miles from the border; meanwhile, Saudi forces conducted airstrikes in the vicinity of Taiz, a Yemeni government stronghold that is in increasing danger of encirclement. Houthi fighters have reportedly cut the road between Taiz and the Yemeni seat of government in Aden.
The New York Times reports that Saudi advisors are on the ground in Yemen, assisting government troops with tactics and targeting. Two U.S. officials confirmed that a large cohort of U.S. military intelligence analysts are supporting the Saudi side of the effort with target identification and selection - though the Trump administration has reportedly declined to provide direct combat support for Saudi forces.
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