Special to WorldTribune, October 9, 2026 Real World News
Geostrategy-Direct, October 6, 2026
Yemen’s government forces have launched a fresh offensive against the Iran-backed Houthis on Oct. 5 and claimed to be advancing near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The operation is in response to the seizure by the Houthis in September of a strip of land on the Red Sea coast near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that shocked both Saudi Arabia and the Pentagon.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is strategically crucial because it connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Control of territory overlooking the strait gives the Houthis potential leverage over a major international shipping route, in a boost for its sponsors in Iran struggling to block the Hormuz Strait.
While Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council President Rashad al-Alimi has called the new campaign “Dawn of Yemen” intended to retake Sanaa, and end Houthi control over large parts of the country, the Houthis are continuing to advance, according to a recent report by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
What that means is that even as the government tries to advance, the Houthis appear to still be winning on some fronts, according to an analysis by Seth Frantzman for the Jerusalem Post.
The fighting is particularly important along Yemen’s western coast where government forces had taken control of Thubab, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, after advancing from the Kahbub Mountains, Arab News reported on Oct. 5. Government forces aim to secure the area around the strait and push north along the coast, the report said.
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