Fierce Fighting Between Houthis and Yemeni Forces Continues, 300 Dead
Fierce clashes between the Houthi rebel group and Yemeni government forces in south-western Yemen continued into the weekend. The death toll from the fighting, marked by Houthi assaults on strategic access to the Red Sea, has risen beyond 300 people.
Hundreds of families have reportedly been forced to flee their homes to escape the wave of violence.
According to AFP on Monday (7/9/2026), both sides have been fighting for days to seize control of access to the Red Sea. This represents the deadliest escalation of the conflict in Yemen since the ceasefire agreed in 2022 collapsed in July.
The intense fighting began when the Houthis launched an offensive on Thursday (3/9) last week, aiming to sever access to the port city of Mokha, which is held by Yemeni government forces and has been bombarded for weeks.
Houthi forces have also continued advancing towards areas bordering the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea.
A Yemeni government military official told AFP that on Saturday night (5/9), Houthi forces succeeded in “cutting the road linking Taiz with Mokha”.
According to data compiled by AFP from various military and medical sources on both sides of the conflict, more than 300 combatants and a number of civilians have been killed since the Houthi offensive began.
Separate reports by two military officials from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces stated that at least 84 of their soldiers were killed in clashes between Saturday afternoon (5/9) and the early hours of Sunday (6/9). Most of those soldiers were killed by Houthi missile attacks.
Meanwhile, four Houthi military sources said 57 of their fighters were killed over the same period.
Prior to that period, at least 81 people were reported killed in the same fighting.
On Saturday (5/9) local time, families fleeing the fighting in Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi, both within the Taiz area, sought refuge at the Al-Bareen camp for internally displaced people.
Then on Sunday (6/9), AFP journalists in Yemen witnessed displaced people setting up emergency shelters at another camp in the same area.
“Gunfire came at us from above and from below. They surrounded us from every direction; we fled with our children, without even a moment to put on our shoes,” said Rawdhah Hasan, a Yemeni woman who fled from Maqbanah.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that at least 1,790 families had been forced to flee due to “artillery bombardment and fierce clashes” in the districts of Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed “deep concern over the ongoing military clashes” in Yemen and warned of “adverse political, economic and security consequences for Yemen and its people”.
Separately, a military official from the internationally recognised Yemeni government, based in Aden, said the clashes began to subside in the early hours of Sunday (6/9). He claimed government forces had “managed to take positions north of Hays after advancing in the area” — referring to a frontline located less than 30 kilometres from the Red Sea coast.
However, he added that the Houthis were advancing to the west of Taiz, south of Hays, in an effort to reach Bab al-Mandeb.
Following Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic Bab al-Mandeb crossing point has become increasingly important as an alternative route. The strait connects Asia with Europe via the Suez Canal.