Saudi-Backed Yemeni Offensive Tests Houthi Grip on Bab el-Mandeb Chokepoint
Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia say they’ve retaken key positions around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, including Dhubab Airport and the Al-Omari camp, challenging Houthi control of a vital global shipping lane. Tanker traffic through the Red Sea now depends on whether these rapid gains hold or trigger a wider fight on Yemen’s west coast.
Control of one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints is back in play. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces say they have pushed Iran-aligned Houthi fighters away from key positions overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a narrow waterway that carries a large share of global trade and oil exports between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
On 5 October, pro-government units aligned with Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) were visually documented at Dhubab Airport, on the Mocha axis in southwest Yemen. Yemeni government forces publicly claimed they now control both the Bab el-Mandeb strait area and Dhubab Airport, describing the operation as a major rollback of recent Houthi advances along the Taiz front. The Al-Omari military camp in Dhubab district was also said to be back under pro-government control after being retaken from Houthi fighters.
Military sources in Yemen reported that government forces are advancing with air cover in Al-Jawf and Marib, as well as along the west coast. Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry, in its first detailed public statement on the current campaign, said 100 fighter jets took part in operations against the Houthis in Yemen on 5 October. That scale of airpower, combined with ground maneuver on several fronts, suggests Riyadh is treating the Bab el-Mandeb sector as a priority theater rather than a peripheral skirmish.
For civilians in the Taiz and Dhubab areas, this new phase of the war means familiar risks returning at higher intensity: airstrikes overhead, shifting front lines on the ground, and renewed uncertainty over who controls basic services and security. For Yemeni soldiers and Houthi fighters dug into rugged coastal terrain, the battle is about footholds that can bring artillery, missiles, or drones within range of commercial shipping.
For shipowners, crews and insurers, the implications are direct. Bab el-Mandeb is one of the few points where a handful of launch sites onshore can threaten a large share of global container and tanker traffic. Even partial Houthi access to the coastline or nearby high ground gives them options to launch anti-ship missiles, explosive drones, or remote-controlled boats into the main lanes used by vessels heading to and from the Suez Canal. If government forces truly consolidate around Dhubab and adjacent positions, they could complicate or disrupt those Houthi operations; if the front remains fluid, risk calculations for transiting vessels will stay volatile.
The offensive comes after months in which the Houthis expanded attacks on Red Sea shipping, hitting vessels linked not only to Israel and its partners but also to neutral and unrelated flag states. Their push around Taiz, flagged in local reporting as potentially overextended, appears to have drawn them into positions now vulnerable to Saudi airpower and coordinated counterattacks by ground forces on the western coast.
At the same time, the Houthis have shown an ability to absorb losses, reposition and resume attacks using mobile launchers and dispersed small teams. Retaking fixed sites such as Dhubab Airport and Al-Omari camp does not automatically neutralize their long-range strike capability, though it can force them to operate farther from the busiest shipping lanes.
The practical lesson for maritime operators is blunt: a chokepoint does not need to be physically blocked for it to become a strategic problem, only contested strongly enough that ships, crews and insurers begin to doubt their safety.
The next indicators to watch are whether Houthi forces attempt counterattacks to reclaim ground in Dhubab district, whether missile and drone launches toward the Red Sea decrease in intensity, and how long Saudi jets maintain high sortie rates over Yemen’s west coast. Any move by outside navies to adjust convoy protocols or insurance premiums for Bab el-Mandeb transits would be another sign that the balance of risk in this narrow strait is shifting again.
Sources
- OSINT