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Government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition said Monday they had recaptured the Red Sea port city of Mocha and several areas near the Bab al-Mandab strait, including the towns of Dhubab, Bab and Hadeid, according to Yemeni officials and witnesses who saw government tanks entering the towns. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said 100 fighter jets had struck 324 targets as part of the offensive, reportedly named "Fajr al-Yaman" (Dawn of Yemen). The Houthis, however, said they had captured the key town of Turbah as they advanced toward Taiz, and BBC Arabic reported more than 70 deaths in Taiz and its surroundings within 24 hours, according to sources on both sides. The U.S. is providing intelligence and planning support to the offensive, officials told The Hindu, while Turkey and Pakistan agreed to rapidly deploy forces to bolster Saudi security under the Mecca defence pact after Houthi threats to Mecca and Medina.
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Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's presidential council, announced Sunday the start of a military operation to retake all remaining territory held by the Houthis and extend state authority across the country. The announcement came hours after the Houthis cut the vital supply route linking besieged Taiz with the government's interim capital, Aden, according to four security sources; a police source said the group had seized the al-Safiya area, cutting the main road and taking the police station. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group launched ballistic missiles and drones at Aramco sites in Riyadh and the Khurais oil area in eastern Saudi Arabia, claiming large fires; Saudi Arabia had not commented. Al Jazeera reported heavy damage at a factory in Sanaa, while analyst Sébastien Boussois told RFI the offensive announcement lacked credibility, calling it a possible appeal for help from a president who "doesn't lead much," and the BBC said al-Alimi was unlikely to have acted without Saudi approval.
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The Houthis said Saturday they struck an Aramco facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, claiming the attack started fires; AFP and Al Jazeera reporters saw smoke and flames rising from Aramco's refinery south of the Saudi capital, where firefighters worked to contain a blaze. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki called the Houthi claims of targeting Riyadh "misleading," and Saudi authorities had not otherwise commented. Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said Saudi aircraft carried out 26 strikes on Sanaa, while the coalition said it conducted 97 operations early Sunday against Houthi reinforcements on the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis. The UN said at least 150,000 people have fled their homes since the Houthis advanced down Yemen's western coast and seized the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with displaced residents of Hays describing mortar fire and escaping with only the clothes they wore.
Fighting between Houthi forces and Yemen's Saudi-backed government has intensified across several fronts, with heavy clashes reported around the city of Taiz and cross-border missile fire toward Saudi Arabia. The reports are dated 2–3 October 2026.
Yemen's armed forces said 474 attacks over 24 hours had killed or wounded 1,540 Houthi fighters, according to Al Jazeera, a figure that could not be independently verified. Government forces also said they carried out about 500 air raids on Houthi positions. The Houthis, an Iran-aligned group that controls Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, accused Riyadh of bombing the country more than 90 times on Friday, including the capital. RFI reported dozens of deaths in clashes in the Taiz region.
Saudi authorities said a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis on Friday was intercepted over the southern Asir region, and that falling debris injured a resident in Ahad Rafidah governorate. Al Jazeera reported that the Saudi-led coalition intercepted three ballistic missiles aimed at the south of the kingdom.
Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, sits at about 1,500 metres altitude between the government's temporary base in Aden and Houthi-held areas. RFI reports that since the Houthis took the Red Sea coastline, the city has become one of their main military objectives. Capturing it would be a major blow to government forces and would let the Houthis extend their coastal advance inland, slow any counteroffensive and tighten their grip on the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a narrow waterway at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Encircling the city is proving harder than expected, however, because government defenders benefit from Saudi air support.
The humanitarian situation is worsening. UN envoy Hans Grundberg said on 1 October that most recently displaced Yemenis are being hosted in Taiz. He voiced alarm at "extremely worrying" reports of casualties, damage to infrastructure and road closures that prevent residents from fleeing. Al Jazeera Arabic also cited an international warning of a possible collapse in food security.
The escalation may soon widen. Citing six people familiar with the preparations, Reuters reported via BBC Arabic that Saudi Arabia is planning an offensive in the coming weeks, led on the ground by Riyadh-supervised Yemeni forces with Saudi air support. A key aim would be to halt the Houthis' rapid gains last month along the coast and around Bab el-Mandeb. Officials said Riyadh is weighing a limited operation near the strait or a broader one on several fronts, including Al-Bayda, Marib, Taiz and Al-Jawf. US support is expected to be limited to intelligence, while Pakistan, Turkey and France have provided defensive military help to the kingdom.
The fighting is unfolding amid a wider regional war that began in late February when the United States and Israel struck Iran, and which has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Control of Bab el-Mandeb adds another vulnerable point to global maritime routes.
This article was automatically compiled by AI from the sources above. It may contain inaccuracies. Always read the original sources for the full context.
