Yemeni government forces launch counteroffensive as fighting spreads toward Sanaa

Counteroffensive opens new fronts

Forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised government have begun a counteroffensive against the Houthis, expanding combat across Taiz, al-Bayda, al-Jawf and other fronts. Government officials say the broader objective is to restore state control and ultimately retake Sanaa. The capital has been held by the Houthis since 2014, making the declared goal militarily ambitious and politically consequential.

Al Jazeera reported that fighting intensified on September 7 in al-Bayda and al-Jawf, both important approaches toward Houthi-held northern territory. Government-aligned forces reported rocket, drone and ground operations and claimed advances, while the Houthis said they had repelled a major assault in al-Jawf. Al Jazeera said it could not independently verify the competing battlefield claims.

Sky News separately recorded the launch of the counterattack in its September 8 live coverage and reported the deputy defence minister's declaration that the government had decided to retake Sanaa. The same coverage documented a parallel Houthi missile-and-drone escalation against Saudi Arabia, illustrating how Yemen's renewed civil conflict is becoming intertwined with the wider confrontation involving Iran and Gulf states.

A humanitarian and maritime risk

The United Nations said clashes had intensified across multiple Yemeni front lines and reported more than 5,600 households displaced in Taiz and southern Hodeidah since September 3. It also cited at least 11 civilian casualties during the preceding week and reports that shelling hit displacement sites in Marib. Humanitarian partners had reached about 2,340 households, but depleted supplies and insecurity were constraining the response.

The geography gives the offensive wider significance. Fighting around western Taiz and southern Hodeidah sits near routes leading to al-Makha and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a critical connection between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. With shipping already under pressure elsewhere in the region, prolonged combat near this corridor could add another layer of risk to humanitarian access, commercial navigation and energy transport.

The announcement of an objective does not establish that Sanaa is close to changing hands. The immediate indicators are whether government forces can hold claimed gains, whether Saudi involvement expands, and whether the Houthis redirect forces from the western coast. The UN envoy is continuing contacts intended to contain the escalation, but the movement of ground forces and the widening air campaign point away from the relative calm that followed the 2022 truce.