Military developments in Yemen are accelerating as clashes continue between forces aligned with the internationally recognised government and Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, across several fronts, widening the country’s security and humanitarian crisis.
A New York Times report by Vivian Nereim in Riyadh, Saeed Al-Batati in Mukalla and Shuaib Almosawa in Sanaa reconstructed how the Houthis swept across Yemen’s Red Sea coast and reached the strategically vital Bab al-Mandab Strait, triggering a chain of events that pushed Yemen back towards full-scale war.
In the weeks before the Houthi advance, Lieutenant General Tareq Saleh, a senior commander aligned with the Yemeni government, had appealed for help as he became increasingly convinced that the movement intended to seize territory under his control and push towards Bab al-Mandab.
Around 10 per cent of global trade passes through the strait, making it one of the world’s most important maritime corridors.
According to three Yemeni officials, Saleh tried to warn his powerful allies in Saudi Arabia and the United States. With the United States and Israel engaged in a confrontation with Iran, preventing a movement aligned with Tehran from securing a stronger position near the strait was considered strategically important by both countries.
Yet when the Houthis made their move last month, no one was either able or willing to stop them.
Their dramatic seizure of the Bab al-Mandab area, achieved during a night marked by panic and disorder among their opponents, set off a sequence of events that dragged Yemen into another war with consequences extending far beyond the country.
Saudi Arabia launched an aerial campaign this week to help Yemeni government forces regain lost territory, supported by US military intelligence and logistical assistance for target identification.
By Tuesday, forces allied with the government said they had made significant territorial gains and surrounded Houthi fighters controlling the strait.
It remains unclear, however, whether those gains can be sustained or how far government-aligned forces intend to advance.
Saudi Arabia has pledged to help the Yemeni government “eliminate” the Houthis, reviving an objective Riyadh pursued a decade ago before the intervention descended into a bloody stalemate.
Warnings That Went Unanswered
The New York Times based its reconstruction on interviews with more than 15 people who either participated in the fighting or had direct knowledge of events, including Yemeni soldiers and military officers, officials from the internationally recognised Yemeni government, US officials and Houthi officials.
Almost all spoke anonymously, either because they feared retaliation from the Houthis or Saudi Arabia, or because they were not authorised to discuss what happened.
Their accounts suggest that although the scale and speed of the Houthi victory surprised many observers, the danger had been visible for months.
US intelligence agencies and the military had repeatedly warned Saudi Arabia about the renewed threat posed by the Houthis and urged Saudi officials to unify the fragmented armed factions nominally aligned with Yemen’s government, according to two senior US officials.
In the period before his forces were defeated, Saleh also contacted Saudi and American officials seeking greater support to resist the expected Houthi advance, according to a Yemeni government official and two senior Yemeni military officers.
Current and former US officials said Washington offered planning and intelligence assistance, including information about Houthi troop movements, but made clear that its support would be limited and would not include carrying out air strikes.
A Force Strengthened During the Years of War
The Houthis attracted wider international attention during the war in Gaza after launching missiles and drones towards Israel and vessels travelling through the Red Sea.
Yemeni analysts said control of territory bordering Bab al-Mandab would make it easier for the movement to disrupt maritime traffic through the strategic waterway.
Whether a foreign military campaign can successfully contain the Houthis remains an open question.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi political official, attributed the movement’s battlefield victory to advances in its military capabilities accumulated over years of war.
He said the Houthis were fighting “to liberate Yemen from occupation” and described their opponents as “mercenaries” serving Saudi Arabia.
Two soldiers from Yemeni government forces interviewed by the New York Times instead blamed what they described as incompetent commanders for their defeat.
According to one of their comrades, the collapse began shortly after sunset on 9 September.
The soldier recalled being stationed with other troops outside the city of Mokha when reports arrived that Houthi fighters were advancing from several directions.
Communications suddenly went down, cutting his unit off from other forces.
Then they heard shouting.
“Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! The Houthis are already here,” fellow soldiers screamed.
The troops turned and fled for their lives.
From the 2014 War to a Fragmented Government
The Houthis seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in 2014, defeating government forces and triggering a civil war.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates subsequently launched a military campaign aimed at restoring the government to power. The intervention proved catastrophic, with hundreds of thousands of people dying as a result of violence, hunger and disease.
Despite the intervention, the Houthis survived and consolidated their control over northern Yemen.
Analysts say the movement used the relative calm that followed the 2022 truce to strengthen its forces, achieve greater self-sufficiency and expand its military arsenal.
Yemen’s government did not undergo a similar transformation.
Over the course of the war, it became increasingly weak and fragmented and increasingly dependent on its Saudi and Emirati sponsors, who were themselves frequently at odds.
Gregory Johnsen, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, described the Yemeni government as having become largely hollow.
“The Yemeni government is a phantom entity at this point,” he said. “They spend more time fighting each other than they do fighting the Houthis.”
Tareq Saleh became one of the central figures within that fractured political and military structure.
As the nephew of Yemen’s former authoritarian leader, he accumulated numerous enemies through years of shifting alliances. At different points he sided with the Houthis before later joining the government camp.
With Emirati backing, Saleh established his own armed faction in Mokha.
His forces, numbering roughly 50,000 soldiers, became a barrier preventing the Houthis from advancing southwards towards Bab al-Mandab.
But in June, the United Arab Emirates withdrew from Yemen amid disagreements with Saudi Arabia. Riyadh subsequently tightened its control over the various government-aligned factions, leaving Saleh dependent on a new sponsor: Saudi Arabia.
War With Iran Reshapes Yemen’s Battlefield
When the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February, the Houthis initially appeared prepared to remain outside the wider confrontation.
Behind the scenes, however, Yemen’s truce had already deteriorated into a fragile stalemate.
Tensions peaked in July when the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing.
The movement then announced a blockade targeting Saudi maritime traffic in the Red Sea, which had become a vital route for oil exports during the war with Iran.
The Houthis also launched missiles and drones towards Saudi Arabia, prompting the kingdom to carry out air strikes inside Yemen.
The escalation coincided with Iranian interests as officials in Tehran sought to widen the confrontation with the United States and increase its cost for President Donald Trump.
As Houthi attacks placed additional pressure on oil markets, some Yemeni government officials saw an opportunity to seek greater foreign assistance for a renewed military campaign against the movement.
Clashes inside Yemen intensified.
Houthi officials accused Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies of preparing a new offensive against them.
At the same time, the Houthis were secretly preparing their own campaign.
The Offensive on Mokha
On 9 August, the Houthis began intensive missile and drone attacks against Mokha, damaging its port and attempting to sever the city’s maritime supply line, according to two Yemeni military officers.
Then, on 3 September, the movement launched a large-scale ground offensive.
Forces affiliated with General Saleh claimed that the Houthis deployed nearly 80,000 fighters, supported by Iranian advisers.
The New York Times said it was unable to independently verify those claims. Al-Bukhaiti denied accusations that the offensive had received Iranian support.
One of the first breakthroughs occurred in the mountainous area of Kadaha.
According to four Yemeni government and military officials, responsibility for defending the area had been divided between Saleh’s forces and another armed faction.
The commanders of the two forces did not trust one another and were unable to cooperate effectively.
The Houthis exploited the division, seized Kadaha and advanced westwards towards the Red Sea coast.
For more than five days, government forces resisted the Houthi offensive and fought in the mountains overlooking Mokha.
Eventually, the Houthis broke through using an intensive combination of missiles, drones and artillery fire.
Government Forces Collapse Overnight
On the evening of 9 September and into the following morning, government forces collapsed.
They withdrew rapidly and in disorder amid widespread confusion.
The Houthis captured a major military camp at the foot of the mountains east of Mokha, leaving their opponents exposed across the coastal plain.
Rather than regrouping, government soldiers retreated as far as the southern city of Aden.
Their withdrawal left the entire Red Sea coastline, including an island inside the Bab al-Mandab Strait, under Houthi control.
In a single night, Yemen’s government lost approximately 1,800 square miles of territory.
According to a statement issued by Saleh’s forces, at least 500 of his fighters were killed and more than 1,500 wounded.
The number of Houthi casualties was not known.
Soon after Mokha fell, Saleh and several associates flew to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, according to a Yemeni government official and two military officers.
There, they stayed at a five-star hotel, where soft music played through the spacious lobby and waitresses served tea with madeleine cakes.
An officer close to Saleh told the newspaper that their immediate focus was on regrouping forces and treating the wounded.
He said an investigation would eventually be conducted to determine what had caused the failures.
Back in Yemen, Saleh’s soldiers were scattered.
Some were stranded outside Aden after fighters belonging to other factions, supposedly allied with them, prevented them from entering the city, according to the officer close to Saleh and another soldier.
Speaking by telephone from their temporary camp, the soldier said they had gone for days without food.
Houthis Seek to Expand Their Gains
In public statements following the victory, Houthi officials sought to reassure the international community that the movement did not represent a general threat to maritime security.
They said their threat was directed specifically at Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil exporters.
With oil prices rising above $100 a barrel, the Houthis began seeking to expand their control further and pledged to “liberate” all of Yemen.
On Sunday, Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s government, announced what he described as a comprehensive war against the Houthis.
He said the government’s objective was to recover all territory captured by the movement over the previous 12 years.
Civilians Face Another Humanitarian Disaster
For Yemeni civilians already suffering from extreme poverty and hunger, the renewed war threatens an even harsher period of suffering.
More than 180,000 people have been displaced in recent weeks.
Many fled packed into small trucks and motorcycles as families raced to escape the fighting.
Hassan Saghir, a civilian who fled a town near Mokha, described the chaos of the evacuation.
“It was like the Day of Judgement, with everyone simply trying to save themselves,” he said.
“We couldn’t even say goodbye to our neighbours, and we don’t know what happened to them.”
