Yemeni government forces claim control of Bab el-Mandeb

Add ARY News on GoogleFollow on Google DiscoverA view of a village on the coast of Bab el-Mandeb, Yemen, April 2, 2026. REUTERS/File PhotoAAResizeTAIZ: Yemen’s government forces on Monday claimed to have seized strategic positions near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait following clashes with Houthi fighters.

Yemen’s official Saba news agency reported that forces from the Nation’s Shield and the pro-government Southern Giants Brigades, backed by the Popular Resistance, had taken control of Dhubab in western Taiz province.

Yemeni forces spokesperson Brigadier General Majid al-Nuzaili said troops were now advancing towards the port city of Mokha.

The announcement came after Yemen’s military launched a broad campaign of strikes against Houthi targets, following the government’s declaration of a new offensive aimed at retaking territory held by the Iran-backed group.

The declared offensive sets a lofty goal for the beleaguered Saudi-backed government a month after losing swathes of the country’s Red Sea coastline and territory around the Bab al-Mandab Strait — a key chokepoint for international shipping.

The Houthis, at war against the internationally-recognised government, launched a lightning offensive in September that has killed hundreds of combatants on both sides and, according to UN figures, forced more than 145,000 people to flee their homes.

While the war in Yemen predates the Middle East war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the fighting there has in recent weeks become the most active front in the wider conflict.

Hours after the government announcement, Yemen’s military spokesman said its forces launched over 1,000 “strikes against artillery and rocket launcher positions, defensive fortifications, approach and reinforcement routes, supply lines and logistics assets, combat reinforcements” belonging to the Houthis.

The government strikes, however, have yet to blunt ongoing Houthi advances on the ground.

On Sunday, the group effectively encircled the key city of Taiz after cutting the main supply route linking the city to the interim government capital of Aden.

“It is a significant development, but I think it is still too early to say that we are witnessing a decisive turning point,” Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group, told AFP.

Taiz 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 long-running civil war.

The trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed lower on Monday, 5 October 2026, as the benchmark KSE-100 index dropped 2,288 points, or 1.36 percent, to close at 165,867.32. The index had closed at 168,155.49 in the previous session. It traded between a high of 167,918.37 and a low of 165,764.21 during the […]