The Yemeni government forces moved the confrontations with the Houthis to a new phase of offensive operations in Al-Jawf and Lahj governorates, coinciding with thwarting Houthi attempts to regain lost positions in Marib and Taiz, in field developments that reflect the expansion of the scope of military operations within Operation “Yemen Dawn.”
In the latest developments, government forces were able to consolidate their positions in strategic mountain ranges east of Al-Jawf Governorate, after making field progress in areas that were under the control of the Houthi group, in a step that would strengthen their military positions and create conditions for continued progress towards the city of Al-Hazm, the center of the governorate.
The official spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Colonel Majid Al-Nuzaili, announced that units from the 1st and 3rd Emergency Divisions were able to recover sites where the Houthi group was stationed in the areas of Umm Lafifa, Qarun Al-Sabir and Dahidha Al-Aqir, as part of the ongoing military operations in the governorate.
Al-Nuzaili said, in a statement, that government forces had achieved field progress on the Al-Jawf fronts, indicating the continuation of military operations to restore the sites controlled by the group, with the support of military and drone aircraft.
According to the “September Net” website of the Yemeni Ministry of Defense, government forces advanced in the Al-Dahidha mountain range and were able to storm Houthi fortifications and barracks and seize weapons and combat equipment, while military aircraft and drones targeted gatherings and weapons stores of the group in multiple locations.
Progress in these areas is gaining military importance given the nature of the mountainous terrain and its location in relation to the roads leading to the city of Al-Hazm, which represents the administrative and military center of gravity of the Houthi group in the governorate, at a time when government forces are trying to consolidate their gains and secure the regained sites before expanding the scope of their advance.
In an attempt to contain this progress, the Houthi group launched a massive attack on the positions of government forces in the Halhalan area of Raghwan District, west of the governorate, but the forces were able to confront the attack and force the attackers to retreat, according to government military sources.
Field data indicate that the Houthi attack in Halhalan aimed to pressure the advancing forces in Al-Jawf, and attempt to confuse their military movements and circumvent their new positions, but the government forces were prepared for this movement and were able to thwart it, according to the same sources.
On the Lahj front, government forces regained the initiative after reorganizing their military deployment in the Tur al-Baha axis, and began a counterattack to reclaim the areas to which the Houthi group had advanced in the al-Maqtara District, adjacent to the Tur al-Baha District.
The forces, with the support of military aviation, were able to enter the first areas of the district and advance to the village of Bani Abdan, with battles continuing in its vicinity, while operations extended to Houthi sites in Haifan and Zurayqa al-Sham, in Taiz Governorate, as part of a simultaneous military movement on more than one axis.
These developments indicate that government forces have moved from the stage of containing the Houthi advance in the Al-Maqtara areas to carrying out attacks to regain the sites, after strengthening their deployment and rearranging the military leadership in the Tur Al-Baha axis, which allowed them to regain the initiative on this front.
In a related context, field information reported the participation of brigades from the Giants Brigades in a large bypass movement in the Mudaraba Mountains, targeting Houthi positions and elements, and led, according to the numbers reported by that information, to the killing and wounding of dozens of Houthis and the recovery of combat equipment.
In the besieged city of Taiz, confrontations continued intermittently on a number of fronts, with government forces and popular resistance thwarting Houthi attacks and infiltration attempts, especially on the northern and northwestern fronts, in conjunction with continuing clashes on the southeastern axis.
The government forces announced that they had broken the Houthi attack towards the Al-Awadi ferry in the Al-Arbaeen area, north of the city, and forced the attackers to retreat, while the Al-Shaqab front witnessed Houthi movements and reinforcements, including crews and tanks that arrived from the direction of Al-Dimna, according to a military source quoted by the “September Net” website.
On the Al-Aqroud front, southeast of Taiz, the forces of the National Army and the Popular Resistance were able, on Thursday, to break an attack launched by the Houthi group that lasted about 4 hours, and included the areas of Hama, Al-Kuraif, Ras Al-Naqil, and Al-Qahfah. According to field sources, the confrontations resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries among the attackers.
But the Houthi escalation in the governorate was not limited to military confrontations; A ballistic missile bombardment targeted a house in the Al-Athawar district of Haifan District, killing four civilians from one family, including 3 children, and wounding 4 others, according to what was announced by the Director General of the District, Ali Raweh.
Raweh explained that the missile targeted the home of citizen Ali Abdel Haq Al-Athwari, killing three children between the ages of 3 and 12, and a 35-year-old woman, and wounding 4 others, including children, in addition to damaging a number of homes and causing a state of fear and panic among the residents.
This targeting comes in light of the expansion of the confrontations in southern Taiz, where the military operations in Al-Maqtara, Haifan, and Zurayqa Al-Sham coincide with the Houthi group’s continued attempts to pressure the positions of government forces in the vicinity of the city, and open new fronts to disperse their capabilities.
The Yemeni government warned of the expanding threat posed by the Houthi militias to regional security and international navigation, in light of Iran's escalating interference in managing its military operations, and its growing links with terrorist organizations in the Horn of Africa, in conjunction with its continued attacks on civilians and the tightening of the siege on the city of Taiz.
The Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs, Afrah Al-Zouba, presented these concerns during a series of meetings she held in Berlin with German officials and experts in studies and research centers concerned with Yemeni affairs, which dealt with developments in the Houthi escalation since last June, and its military, humanitarian and security repercussions on Yemen and the region.
Al-Zuba said that the group intensified its attacks after a plane belonging to the Iranian “Mahan” company linked to the “Revolutionary Guard” landed at Hodeidah Airport, explaining, according to the government’s account, that the plane was carrying Iranian experts and carrying money and specific weapons to support Houthi military operations, in violation of Yemeni sovereignty and international laws and resolutions.
She indicated that the escalation extended to the areas of the West Coast and Bab al-Mandab, before government forces moved to those areas within the framework of Operation “Yemen Dawn,” warning of the group’s efforts to expand again on the West Coast and threaten freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and to use sea lanes as a means of putting pressure on the international community.
In her discussions with German Foreign Minister Johann David Vadifol, the Yemeni minister warned that the Houthi threat goes beyond the borders of Yemen, pointing to the group's targeting of Saudi territory and international shipping lines, and the resulting risks to regional security and global energy and food supplies.
It also presented what the Yemeni government announced regarding the participation of experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah in managing Houthi operations, in addition to the group’s links to terrorist organizations in the Horn of Africa, most notably the Somali “Al-Shabaab Movement.” These links usually raise the level of threat to maritime security and regional stability.
The two sides discussed ways to develop the capabilities of the Yemeni Coast Guard to protect territorial waters, secure international trade routes, and enhance bilateral consultation and exchange of information regarding security developments in Yemen and the region.
Al-Zuba handed the German Foreign Minister a written message from the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, addressed to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which dealt with bilateral relations, regional issues, and developments in the Yemeni situation.
In the humanitarian file, the Minister highlighted the Houthi siege imposed on the city of Taiz, the targeting of civilian and health facilities, and the resulting closure of medical facilities, interruption of medicine supplies, and the absence of safe passages, warning of the catastrophic repercussions on the population, especially women, children, and the sick.
It also touched on the random recruitment of children and the planting of mines, and the continued detention of dozens of United Nations employees and humanitarian workers, noting that a number of them died during detention. The last of them was the UN employee, Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Shami.
In another meeting with the Undersecretary of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Niels Annen, Al-Zuba called for strengthening German support for the humanitarian response, in light of the worsening needs of the population as a result of the escalation, siege, and Houthi violations.
Yemeni official media reported that the German official expressed his country's concern about the humanitarian conditions in Taiz and other areas, stressing Germany's commitment to studying ways to enhance support for relief and humanitarian response efforts.
Vadivhol also renewed his country's support for the Yemeni government and the efforts of the United Nations, expressing his concern about the continuation of Houthi attacks, and stressing the need to stop the attacks on Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
In her meetings with experts from German studies and research centers, Al-Zuba stressed the importance of conveying an accurate picture of the developments in the situation in Yemen and conveying the voice of the Yemenis to official and popular circles in Germany, while the experts stressed the need to give the Yemeni file more attention and transfer the priorities of the population to decision-making circles in Germany and Europe.
In the context of the discussions, Berlin announced the provision of an additional 10 million euros to support the humanitarian response in Yemen, bringing its total contributions during the current year to 38 million euros.
In parallel with the escalation of the Houthi aggression, recent international data revealed an unprecedented deterioration in food security in Yemen, with about 74 percent of families unable to meet their basic food needs by mid-September, and the percentage of families facing severe food deprivation rising to 41 percent, the highest levels ever recorded.
This deterioration coincides with the widening repercussions of the Iranian-backed group’s military escalation, the tightening of the siege on the city of Taiz, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of residents in Taiz and Lahj, in addition to rising costs of living and declining purchasing power, at a time when humanitarian aid is shrinking due to the decline in international funding.
It is estimated that more than half of Yemen's population was at risk of facing crisis levels or worse of food insecurity, according to the Integrated Interim Classification of Food Security, amid expectations of continued deterioration in the coming months, due to the intersection of conflict and displacement, high food and fuel prices, and disruption of maritime traffic.
Indicators reveal that the problem is no longer related to the availability of food in accessible markets, but rather to the inability of families to purchase it, with their incomes eroding and prices rising. These conditions push more families to reduce meals and their quantities, go into debt, and give up basic needs to provide food.
According to the risk management team of the Food Security Monitoring Initiative in Yemen, the cost of the basic food basket rose by about 7 percent on a monthly basis in Houthi-controlled areas, reaching about $91, the highest level over the past year, exceeding its cost in areas under the control of the Yemeni government.
In Yemeni government areas, the cost of the food basket rose by about 2 percent, continuing its upward trajectory since the outbreak of the regional escalation, becoming about 7 percent higher than its levels a year ago.
Some commodities recorded sharper increases; The price of cooking oil increased by 35 percent on an annual basis in government areas, while the price of wheat flour increased by about 15 percent in the city of Taiz since the start of the escalation.
The sources of threat do not stop at the repercussions of war and trade disturbances, as the El Niño phenomenon highlights an additional factor that may increase the fragility of food security, through its potential effects on international import markets and local agricultural production.
The Famine Early Warning Network indicates that Yemen is one of the countries most vulnerable to the indirect effects of this phenomenon through import markets.
These risks gain importance given that Australia provided more than a third of Yemen’s wheat imports during the period 2024-2025, while the local wheat crop is expected to decline during the 2026-2027 season by a rate ranging between 14 and 17 percent.
Wheat represents a major component of the daily food of Yemenis, which makes the decline in its production or the rise in prices a direct threat to poor families, who depend on it to secure their needs in light of limited income and weak ability to confront price shocks.
The risk management team recommended activating the preparedness plan to confront food security crises, strengthening the humanitarian response and directing interventions to the most affected regions and groups, while giving priority to supporting purchasing power, ensuring the flow of basic goods, and expanding food aid and livelihood programs.
