Houthi forces have moved to within about 80 kilometers of Aden, Reuters reported Monday, threatening government positions near the main route between Yemen’s temporary capital and Taiz.
Four military sources told Reuters that Houthi forces began attacking government positions in Al-Maqatirah three days earlier and had since gained control of the district. Government troops withdrew toward Tur al-Bahah, where fighting continued at a military camp. The camp is about 50 kilometers from Lahj, the provincial capital.
Reuters said the Houthi push put strategic government positions along the main road between Aden and Taiz at risk. Taiz has been isolated since early October, when the Houthis blocked its southern route to Aden. Reuters said the siege had driven more than 100,000 people from their homes and made food, medicine and fuel scarce.
Reuters placed the fighting near Aden within a wider Houthi campaign that expanded along Yemen’s Red Sea coast in September, including territorial gains near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Military sources said the advance could help Houthi forces maneuver around government units on mountain terrain overlooking the strait. Reuters described Bab el-Mandeb as a major international shipping channel and a route for Saudi oil exports to Asia.
Reuters linked the fighting to the broader U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. It also said Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, a backer of Yemen’s government, had increased; the Saudi-led coalition responded with more strikes against Houthi targets. Reuters said the clashes ended the decline in major attacks that followed the 2022 U.N.-brokered truce. The war began in 2014, when Houthi forces pushed Yemen’s internationally recognized government out of Sanaa, according to Reuters.
Reuters said the advance marks the Houthis’ closest approach to Aden since early 2015, when the group briefly entered the city before being forced out.
