Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces reached the outskirts of the Red Sea port city of Mokha late on Monday, October 5, 2026, four government sources told Reuters, as the Saudi-led coalition said its naval forces carried out a military operation in Yemen's Red Sea governorate of Hodeidah. The advance is the second day of "Operation Dawn of Yemen," the government's counteroffensive to roll back the Houthis' September gains along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Yemen's Defense Ministry said Mokha had fallen — though Reuters could not independently verify the extent of the gains, and the Houthis called the claims baseless.
Where does the fighting stand?
The internationally recognized government's president, Rashad al-Alimi, announced the operation on Sunday, swearing on X to fight "until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia." On Monday, the official Saba news agency said the National Shield Forces, the Giants Brigades and the Tihama Resistance — with popular-resistance support — seized Mokha and strategic positions around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after fierce battles, capturing or killing Houthi fighters. The government had already claimed Dhubab district and its airstrip at the mouth of the strait earlier Monday.
Independent confirmation is not yet available: Reuters said it could not verify the extent of the gains, and the Houthi side said the government's claims were baseless. The one independent assessment available, from Yemen analyst Mohammed al-Basha, judged it "high confidence" that government forces recaptured Dhobab Airport, cutting the Houthi supply route between Mocha and Bab el-Mandeb.
The fighting is two-sided: the same Reuters wire reported that the Houthis made advances of their own near Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city — five government military sources said Houthi fighters gained sections of a mountain road, leaving government forces in the city besieged, though one government source denied the road had been cut.
What did the coalition and its allies do?
The Saudi-led coalition is providing the operation's air and naval weight. Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said about 100 fighter jets were supporting Yemeni government forces, that the coalition had secured "air protection" of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and that hundreds of Houthi targets had been destroyed, according to the Associated Press. He vowed "full operational support" to the Yemeni government forces until the Houthis are "eliminated." Late on Monday, the coalition said naval forces carried out a military operation in the Hodeidah governorate.
The escalation also pulled in new actors: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed at an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Monday to rapidly deploy military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia under their Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, according to a joint statement. The United States, which declined a Saudi request for direct strikes, is "providing aerial refueling for Saudi warplanes conducting defensive air patrols," the New York Times reported Sunday.
What is the human and security cost so far?
The fighting has worsened Yemen's humanitarian crisis: the UN migration agency said Monday that 184,000 people had been displaced since the war resumed. The Houthi-run health ministry said two people were killed and seven wounded in strikes on the Sanhan and Sa'wan districts of Sanaa province.
The Houthi-aligned Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center confirmed the increased Saudi airstrikes and warned "all airlines operating in Saudi airspace that it is unsafe," with the exception of airspace over Mecca and Medina. In response to the threat picture, the U.S. State Department issued a new warning urging Americans in Saudi Arabia to remain vigilant against potential drone or missile attacks.
Why does it matter?
Mokha and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are the hinge of a second oil-export corridor: with Iran having curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the fighting in Yemen threatens the other major route for Gulf energy exports. Reuters noted that if confirmed, the government advance would loosen the Houthis' grip on the vital waterway — though the group could still strike vessels with drones from other positions. With the heaviest fighting concentrated in the southwest — the coast near the strait and the hills around Taiz — and both sides claiming gains, the battle for the strait is now the war's decisive front.
