Yemen’s war is back: A new battle for Sanaa and the Red Sea
Fighting has intensified across Yemen as the internationally recognised government launched counterattacks against Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, renewing the country’s most serious clashes since a 2022 UN-brokered truce. Battles are reported in Taiz, al-Bayda and al-Jawf while both sides contest strategic approaches to Sanaa and the Bab al-Mandeb strait off the Red Sea coast.
Why It Matters
The renewed campaign risks prolonging a conflict that already produced a severe humanitarian crisis and could further destabilise Red Sea shipping and regional energy routes, given the Houthis’ recent attacks on international shipping and Saudi territory. Analysts warn the fighting is more likely to become a drawn-out war than a quick, decisive operation, with wider regional tensions—particularly involving Iran—raising the stakes.
Key Facts
- Most intense fighting since: 2022, when a UN-brokered truce halted eight years of war
- Provinces with intensified fighting: Taiz, al-Bayda and al-Jawf
- Strategic locations contested: Sanaa, al-Makha (Mocha) and the Bab al-Mandeb strait
- Casualties reported by Saudi Arabia: 73 wounded in attacks attributed to the Houthis
- Houthi attacks on shipping began regularly: 2023, according to the source material noted in the article
Yemen’s conflict has surged anew as government forces launched counteroffensives against the Houthis, with the fiercest reported clashes since the 2022 truce concentrated in Taiz, al-Bayda and al-Jawf. The government says it is aiming to retake the capital, Sanaa, from the Iran-backed rebels, while the Houthis report repelling some advances and conducting attacks across the border into Saudi Arabia. Fighting has moved beyond symbolic objectives to contest critical coastal approaches. The Houthis have pushed through western Taiz and southern Hodeidah toward the port city of al-Makha and the Bab al-Mandeb, a choke point that has gained added importance amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Since 2023 the Houthis have regularly targeted shipping in the Red Sea, and their recent cross-border strikes have wounded dozens in Saudi Arabia. Analysts say the internationally recognised government is better resourced than at previous stages of the war and has consolidated control after pushing back the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council earlier this year. That unity has emboldened pro-government forces to press against Houthi-held areas, but experts caution that a swift collapse of Houthi resistance is unlikely. Observers expect the conflict to settle into a protracted confrontation rather than a rapid campaign. If driven back, the Houthis could entrench themselves in northern highlands around Saada, Hajjah and Sanaa, potentially hardening a geographic division between a Houthi-controlled north and government-held territories. The wider regional backdrop—marked by confrontations involving the United States, Israel and Iran and increased pressure on Iran-aligned groups—has changed Yemen’s strategic value, turning the conflict into one with implications for Red Sea security and regional energy routes. Analysts also warn that, even as the government advances, coordinated long-range attacks by Iran-aligned actors could impose significant costs on Saudi Arabia and sustain broader instability.
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