Yemen forms command center after Houthi breaches on western fronts

Yemeni government-aligned forces announced Thursday the establishment of a command center south of Mocha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, as Presidential Leadership Council member Tareq Saleh ordered troops to "reorganize their ranks" following significant casualties from a Houthi offensive he said was planned by Iran. Mocha holds strategic importance as it hosts a major port and sits closest to Bab al-Mandab — the vital maritime passage linking the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden that carries vessels traveling to and from the Suez Canal.

Saleh, who commands the National Resistance, Giants Brigades, Nation's Shield and units of the Taiz Axis, stated that these forces had suffered significant casualties in recent days while confronting the Houthi push. The government-aligned 2 December news agency reported that Saleh said the offensive was "planned by Iran," while the media office of government authorities in Al-Hudaydah confirmed military units around Hays in southern Al-Hudaydah province and western Taiz were being reorganized as part of a plan to "organize the deployment and redistribute forces" in preparation for coordinated field operations.

Houthi fighters seize western districts

Activists on social media circulated images they said showed Houthi fighters after taking control of the Hays and Al-Khawkhah districts in southern Al-Hudaydah, where National Resistance forces had been deployed. If the Houthis have secured both districts, the group would complete its control over Al-Hudaydah province, according to an Anadolu correspondent, giving the Iran-aligned movement dominance over a key Red Sea coastline.

Escalation spreads across Yemen

Government forces and Houthis continued to exchange fire Wednesday in the provinces of Marib, Al-Bayda, Al-Hudaydah, Taiz and Al-Dhalea, resulting in deaths including among civilians, while government forces sent military reinforcements to Mocha. The escalation marks the broadest wave of fighting in Yemen since 2022, when a UN-brokered truce was reached before the peace process stalled and military confrontations resumed in July. Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led Arab coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.