The Houthis’ long war for control of Yemen has flared again along the Red Sea coast, with fresh clashes between the Iran-aligned movement and forces loyal to the internationally recognised government.
Clips shared on 5 October 2026 were presented by accounts as showing Yemeni government or Saudi-aligned forces operating an MRAP during an engagement with Houthi fighters in desert terrain. Parallel posts the same day linked similar material to recent government offensives, mainly in the southwest near Bab al-Mandab, after Houthi advances in September that included the capture of Mokha and armored vehicles. The fighting forms part of the conflict that began in 2014–15 between the internationally recognized Yemeni government (backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE) and the Iran-aligned Houthis.
The group, formally known as Ansar Allah, emerged in the 1990s in the northern Saada governorate as a Zaydi Shia revivalist movement led by the al-Houthi family. It opposed what it saw as Saudi religious influence and the marginalisation of northern tribes under President Ali Abdullah Saleh. After a series of wars with the central government between 2004 and 2010, the Houthis expanded rapidly once the 2011 Arab Spring protests weakened Saleh’s regime.
In 2014, they seized the capital, Sanaa, in alliance with forces still loyal to Saleh, forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee. Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab states launched a military intervention in March 2015 aimed at restoring Hadi’s government. The campaign relied heavily on air strikes, a naval blockade, and support for local ground forces, but failed to dislodge the Houthis from the north and the capital. Years of stalemate followed, marked by urban fighting, missile and drone attacks, and a humanitarian crisis that the United Nations has repeatedly described as among the world’s worst.
A UN-brokered truce in April 2022 reduced large-scale fighting for a period, yet it was never converted into a lasting political settlement. The Houthis used the relative calm to consolidate control over roughly a third of Yemen’s territory and the majority of its population, while developing a growing arsenal of missiles and drones with Iranian technical support. From late 2023, they began attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying the strikes were linked to the war in Gaza. The attacks disrupted global trade routes through the Bab al-Mandab strait and drew US and British strikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen.
Fighting on the ground intensified again in 2026. In September, Houthi forces overran positions held by Saudi- and UAE-backed units along the southwestern coast, including the port of Mokha, and displayed captured armoured vehicles. Government-aligned units later claimed counter-attacks and air strikes against Houthi positions near the same strategic coastline. The front lines remain fluid, with both sides reporting gains and losses around the Bab al-Mandab approaches and in inland governorates.
The conflict continues to draw in regional powers. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have backed anti-Houthi factions, though their priorities have sometimes diverged. Iran has supplied the Houthis with weapons components and expertise, according to successive UN expert reports, while denying direct command of operations. Civilian casualties, displacement, and restrictions on aid have persisted throughout, and repeated attempts at talks have stalled over issues of power-sharing, control of ports, and the Houthis’ Red Sea campaign.
No comprehensive ceasefire is in place. Military activity reported in early October 2026 indicates that both the Houthis and government-aligned forces are still contesting key coastal and desert areas, keeping the risk of further escalation high.
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