Yemeni government-aligned forces resumed fighting near Bab al-Mandab on 2 November 2026 and recaptured positions in neighbouring Lahj province, field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
A military source gave a competing account to the Houthi-run Saba news agency in Sanaa, saying Houthi forces had repelled an advance towards Bab al-Mandab, according to Al-Masaa Press. Neither account was independently verified.
Colonel Majed al-Nazili, spokesman for Yemen’s government armed forces, said a wider campaign had “neutralised” about 500 Houthi commanders and fighters in the preceding 24 hours, according to Yemen Monitor’s report on 1 November.
That wording did not establish how many people were killed, wounded or otherwise put out of action. The military also claimed 1,272 targeting operations and the destruction or disabling of 169 vehicles, pieces of equipment and heavy weapons.
The fighting is taking place near a maritime passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Yemeni officials told The Associated Press on 5 October that Saudi-backed forces had recaptured Dhubab and other nearby towns during an offensive against the Houthis.
In the latest clashes, Southern Giants Brigades forces retook Jabal Safan and Qarn al-Shamaya in Lahj’s Al-Mudarabah and Ras al-Arah district, field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. Fighting continued around Al-Majza and Zuraiqat al-Sham, the newspaper reported.
Government forces also sent Giants Brigades and Nation’s Shield reinforcements to Al-Maqatirah district in northern Lahj. They took over the Tur al-Bahah military command headquarters and joined the front lines, according to the newspaper.
The deployments aimed to recover ground lost to the Houthis and prevent further advances. Field sources cited by Asharq Al-Awsat said government troops and allied local fighters had repelled attacks, but supplied no independently verified casualty figures.
Giants Brigades media chief Aseel al-Saqaldi denied reports that his forces had withdrawn from Dhubab, Kahboub or their western coastal positions, the newspaper reported. He said their presence in Dhubab was the beginning of operations he intended to extend to Saada.
A later report on 2 November described an advance north of Dhubab towards Al-Omari military camp. Yeni Yemen, citing a security source quoted by Al Arabiya and Al Hadath, said Giants Brigades and Nation’s Shield forces had attacked Houthi positions.
The report did not establish how far the troops had advanced or whether they had captured the camp.
Around Taiz city, the government’s military command said its forces, supported by warplanes, struck Houthi positions in the Jabal Sabir area and Al-Misrakh district, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
The command also said its air defences shot down two Houthi drones on the Sabir front. Those claims were not independently verified.
Nazili said the broader Dawn of Yemen campaign supported government advances in Al-Jawf, with operations continuing across northern fronts, Marib, Al-Bayda and southern Yemen, according to Yemen Monitor.
