At Least 60 Killed in Yemen, Including Civilians, as Ground Fighting Intensifies

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces clashed with the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel movement, leaving more than 60 people dead, including civilians, as the Houthis advanced with a military offensive on Yemen’s western coast.

Twenty-six government troops and 31 Houthi fighters died during several hours of fighting in the country’s south-west on Saturday, according to medical and military sources cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP). A missile strike also killed six civilians and injured seven others travelling by bus in the city of Taiz.

The deaths followed a series of bloody clashes in recent days as the Houthis continued an offensive in western Taiz and southern Hodeidah along the Red Sea coast. On Friday, 129 were killed in fighting between rebel and government forces, according to an AFP tally.

The fighting is some of the deadliest in years, following the collapse in July of the 2022 ceasefire. The truce ended after an Iranian plane attempted to land in Houthi-controlled Sana’a, triggering attacks by the Yemeni government on the airport.

The Houthis are attempting to push back governmental troops to capture strategic hills overlooking Bab al-Mandeb in order to advance towards port cities on the coast. They have so far captured areas in western Taiz.

In Taiz, a government military officer said the “coming hours will be decisive,” noting that the Houthis had taken positions near the city a day earlier. Reinforcements had been arriving from Aden to try to halt the Houthi advance.

On Friday, government forces reported recapturing the al-Khazan and al-Makahna hills west of Taiz, two strategically important areas for controlling the region.

The Houthis had previously controlled the port city of al-Makha overlooking Bab al-Mandeb, before being pushed out by government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition.

The Bab al-Mandeb strait is a critical maritime chokepoint for ships heading to the Suez Canal, with roughly 10% of global maritime trade passing through it. Saudi Arabia has been using the strait to export oil for months since the start of the US-Iran war.

Any disruption to shipping in Bab al-Mandeb would further raise the cost of global goods, already increased by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz since March 2026.

If the Houthis recapture the port city and take key areas along the Red Sea coast, they would gain the ability to control naval traffic in the Red Sea. In July, the Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia and have repeatedly disrupted traffic in solidarity with Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014, when the Houthis and allied forces took the capital, Sana’a, and forced the then government out of power. A Saudi-led coalition subsequently began a military intervention to support the Yemeni government and fight the Houthis, a strategic ally of Iran.