Yemeni forces withdraw from Bab el-Mandeb as Houthis advance

Saudi-backed Yemeni forces withdrew Sunday from Dhubab Airport and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait area to defend Aden, the Southern Armed Forces said, citing "threats targeting" the city.

The withdrawal leaves the Iran-aligned Houthis controlling the land overlooking the strait, The New York Times and NBC News reported. NBC News said the move gives the Houthis greater leverage over the choke point as Iran disrupts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, potentially further isolating Gulf oil producers from their main shipping routes.

The strait links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and carries vessels between Asia and Europe through Egypt's Suez Canal.

"This step is taken based on the priority of securing the capital, Aden, and the neighbouring governorates, as well as strengthening the front lines and addressing existing threats," the Southern Armed Forces said in a statement.

Yemen's government said its last forces near the strait had now withdrawn, with security in Aden and nearby provinces taking priority. Information Minister Salem Thabet al-Awlaki said Sunday's repositioning was consistent with the strategic priorities and precise field calculations used to manage major battles.

The Houthis celebrated their advance, CNN reported.

A military source quoted by the Houthi-run Al-Masirah channel said the departing forces had lost positions and rear supply lines, then fled toward Aden using its defense as a pretext. The source said the description of the withdrawal as a repositioning showed panic and fear of death or capture.

Houthis advance toward Aden

Four military sources within government forces and two government sources said the Houthis had captured Al-Maqatirah and Al-Madaribah and were moving toward Aden, France 24 reported. They put Houthi fighters at Al-Kharaz camp in Al-Madaribah, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from Aden.

South of Taiz, Houthi forces were in the highlands just outside Lahj governorate's Tur al-Bahah district, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Aden, The Times of Israel reported, citing Reuters.

Near the strait, government forces moved to al-Suqyah, immediately south of Dhubab, and continued efforts to drive the Houthis from coastal areas nearby, Yemeni military sources told Reuters.

Military officials said Friday that government forces had started building sandbag defenses and digging tunnels around Aden as the Houthis moved south. Government military sources said the Houthis have attacked Aden repeatedly in recent weeks, including an Oct. 15 strike on the presidential palace that killed four people.

It was not immediately clear whether the Houthis fully control the Bab el-Mandeb coastline or whether they will attempt to attack Aden.

Reuters described Sunday's announcement as the apparent conclusion of a six-week government campaign to regain the coast near the Red Sea's mouth. The Houthis seized the coast in September. In October, a government offensive supported by hundreds of Saudi airstrikes recaptured Dhubab but did not retake Mocha.

Yemeni military sources told Reuters Houthi advances around Taiz weakened that campaign. Reuters said Saudi Arabia, the government's main international ally, gave no immediate response.

"The Houthis are very determined to go to Aden," Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group, told The New York Times.

"They don't want to see any area controlled by the government or the Saudi side, so they want to take over everything at this moment," Nagi said.

Yemen's civil war resumed this summer after lying dormant since a 2022 U.N.-brokered truce, spilling over from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began in February. The government has operated from Aden since 2015, when the Houthis unsuccessfully tried to capture it.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday that the Houthis had freed 600 prisoners.