Yemen government launches own air attacks on Houthis: What that means

A major Houthi offensive towards Bab al-Mandeb has triggered some of Yemen’s worst fighting in years.

Members of Houthi security forces sit on a rock at the site of a rally held to commemorate Mawlid, marking the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's birthday, in Sanaa, Yemen, August 25, 2026 [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has launched a series of air attacks against Houthi positions in the country, marking a significant escalation in the conflict, with some of the country’s heaviest fighting since a fragile truce in 2022.

Government warplanes carried out at least 15 strikes on Friday against Houthi positions, gatherings and vehicles in the western provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah, according to the Yemeni military.

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The air attacks against Houthi positions provided support to government forces fighting a major Houthi offensive towards the Red Sea coast and the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

These are not the first air attacks by government aircraft since Yemen’s fragile truce began to unravel in July. On July 25, government aircraft struck Houthi missile and drone launch sites and weapons depots in Marib and al-Jawf, according to Yemeni military officials cited by the Reuters news agency.

And less than two weeks earlier, on July 13, Yemen’s internationally recognised government said its forces had attacked the runway at the Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing.

However, the latest attacks mark a significant step up in the government’s use of its own air power against the Houthis, after Saudi-led coalition aircraft provided much of the aerial firepower supporting anti-Houthi forces during the most intense years of Yemen’s war.

Friday’s air campaign comes as the Iran-backed Houthis, who have been vying for control of Yemen for years, attempt to advance through western Taiz and southern Hodeidah towards al-Makha (Mocha), and territory overlooking the critical Bab al-Mandeb Strait at the opening to the Red Sea.

Control of the area could strengthen the Houthis’ position along the Red Sea, where the group has previously attacked commercial and military vessels, while threatening a key government supply route.

The fighting unfolds against a backdrop of the wider regional conflict, with the Houthis recently declaring a Red Sea maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, while disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israel war with Iran has raised the strategic importance of alternative routes through the Red Sea. This means any expansion of Houthi influence around Bab al-Mandeb could have consequences for shipping far beyond Yemen.

Here’s what we know.

Fighting erupted on Thursday as Houthi forces launched a major offensive along front lines in western Taiz and southern Hodeidah, using ballistic missiles, drones and artillery as ground forces attempted to advance towards government-held territory along the Red Sea coast.

The fighting has centred on areas west of Taiz and around al-Makha, a government-held port near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

A Yemeni official in Aden told the AFP news agency that the Houthis were seeking to capture hills overlooking Bab al-Mandeb and al-Makha before pushing towards the coast.

Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from Sanaa, said Houthi forces had made gains in western Taiz.

“According to military officials from the internationally recognised government, the Houthis have been able to take some of those territories,” Mawry said. “In western Taiz, they’ve managed to take over a strategic military base, which is settled on top of a strategic mountain and gives the Houthis an overview of the entire area.”

Mawry said there had been particularly heavy fighting around al-Barah and Maqbanah, where a main road is used to resupply government forces stationed in Taiz and al-Makha.

More than 120 fighters have been killed since the Houthi offensive began, according to an AFP tally, making the clashes among Yemen’s deadliest in years.

Several civilians were also reported killed and others injured after a ballistic missile hit a restaurant in the al-Makha area, according to government-run Saba TV.

On Saturday, at least four civilians were killed and nine others injured in a Houthi missile strike on a crowded road in southwestern Yemen, according to Saba news agency.

The attack by the Iran-backed group on Saturday targeted a gathering of civilians along the strategic Heijah al-Abd Road, south of Taiz city, Saba said, citing local and medical sources.

What is behind the latest tensions?

The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and subsequently took control of much of northern and western Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries to intervene in support of the internationally recognised government in March 2015.

A United Nations-brokered truce in April 2022 sharply reduced fighting. Although the agreement formally expired six months later, large-scale hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces remained relatively limited and Saudi Arabia pursued negotiations with the group.

No comprehensive peace agreement followed, however, leaving front lines largely frozen rather than ending the conflict.

That fragile status quo came under increasing pressure after the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, but tensions escalated further in July with the government air force strike on the Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport, preventing an Iranian aircraft from landing.

What do we know about Yemen’s air force?

The modern Yemeni Air Force was created after North and South Yemen unified in 1990, bringing together two militaries equipped with both Soviet and Western aircraft.

Its fleet subsequently included MiG-21 and MiG-29 fighters, Su-22 fighter-bombers, US-made F-5 fighters and a range of helicopters and transport aircraft.

But Yemen’s armed forces fractured when the Houthis seized Sanaa and the political crisis descended into war in 2014 and 2015.

When Saudi Arabia intervened soon after, its coalition targeted airbases, air-defence systems and combat aircraft in a bid to prevent the Houthis from making use of Yemen’s air force.

That left the Saudi-led coalition – rather than the Yemeni government’s own depleted air force – providing much of the air power supporting government forces during the subsequent war.

Saudi-led coalition aircraft conducted tens of thousands of air raids between March 2015 and the 2022 truce, striking Houthi military positions and providing air support during major government ground offensives. The campaign also caused extensive civilian casualties and became one of the most controversial aspects of the war.

Between 2014 and 2022, Human Rights Watch documented dozens of apparently unlawful coalition air attacks on homes, markets, hospitals, schools, detention centres and other civilian sites.

In 2024, the US and the United Kingdom launched a new round of air attacks against Houthi positions in Yemen. Earlier this year, the US Pentagon disclosed that US military attacks against Yemen’s Houthis killed 153 civilians in 2025 and wounded another 243. The US had previously denied its attacks had caused civilian deaths.

The conflict in Yemen has caused a huge humanitarian crisis. In 2021, the UN estimated that 377,000 people had died in Yemen since 2014, with 60 percent the result of food shortages and lack of accessible health services.

Why is the Yemeni government using its own air power now?

Previously relying on Saudi-led coalition air force power, the government’s decision to deploy its own warplanes now comes as it tries to blunt a Houthi offensive that initially made gains across several fronts in western Taiz and threatened the main road linking Taiz with the Red Sea port of al-Makha.

Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemeni American analyst and former spokesperson for Yemen’s embassy in Washington, told Al Jazeera that the Houthis had achieved “some initial gains during a surprise, multi-axis offensive across western Taiz” this week, temporarily capturing positions and threatening areas overlooking the Taiz-al-Makha corridor.

But those advances did not produce the wider breakthrough the group appears to have sought, he said.

“The front did not collapse, the Taiz-al-Makha corridor was not severed, and attempts to expand the offensive towards other strategically important positions were stopped,” al-Basha added.

Government and allied forces recovered much of the territory lost during the first day of fighting, according to al-Basha, while Houthi advances on several other axes were contained or repelled.

The government has since sent reinforcements, and the use of aircraft gives those forces another means of attacking Houthi positions and concentrations as they try to retake high ground and prevent the group from cutting the Taiz-al-Makha road.

Why have the Houthis launched this offensive now – and what happens next?

Al-Basha said Jabal Numan, overlooking the Taiz-al-Makha road, is one of the most important remaining contested areas, while a Houthi attempt to capture Jabal Dhu Ba’s, north of Hays, was repelled by National Resistance forces.

Taking such high ground could allow the Houthis to observe and threaten government supply routes, while losing it could make further advances towards al-Makha substantially more difficult.

“The first day therefore ended with a mixed battlefield picture,” he said. “The Houthis gained ground through the initial surprise and speed of their multi-axis assault, but much of that ground was subsequently recovered.”

The arrival of new government-aligned forces, coupled with air support, could make it harder for the Houthis to repeat their initial breakthrough.

“The next phase is likely to be more difficult,” al-Basha said. “Both sides are reinforcing, several positions remain contested, and control of Jabal Numan remains a key immediate objective.

“The coming hours will likely centre on attempts by anti-Houthi forces to recover the mountain, consolidate their lines and prevent another Houthi push towards the Taiz-al-Macha corridor.”

胡塞武装向曼德海峡发动的大规模攻势引发了也门多年来最严重的战斗。

2026年8月25日，在也门萨那，胡塞武装安全部队成员坐在一块岩石上，参加纪念圣纪节（先知穆罕默德诞辰纪念日）的集会。[Khaled Abdullah/路透社]

也门国际公认的政府对该国境内的胡塞武装阵地发动了一系列空袭，标志着冲突显著升级，这是自 2022 年脆弱的停火协议以来该国最激烈的战斗之一。

据也门军方称，政府军战机周五对西部省份塔伊兹和荷台达的胡塞武装阵地、集会地点和车辆进行了至少 15 次空袭。

卡塔尔从惠誉负面观察名单中移除，原因是其液化天然气项目风险有所缓解（名单1/4）。

美国驻以色列大使在被占领的西岸会见巴勒斯坦裔美国人（共4条记录，此为第2条）

问题 3（共 4 个）：为什么特朗普现在又威胁要打击伊朗的镐山？

（共4条）美国特使访问莫斯科期间，俄罗斯袭击乌克兰，至少5人死亡（列表4/4）

对胡塞武装阵地的空袭为政府军提供了支援，政府军正在与胡塞武装向红海沿岸和具有战略意义的曼德海峡（世界上最重要的航运通道之一）发起的大规模攻势作战。

这并非也门政府军飞机自7月脆弱的停火协议开始瓦解以来首次发动空袭。据路透社援引也门军方官员的话报道，7月25日，政府军飞机袭击了马里卜和焦夫的胡塞武装导弹和无人机发射场以及武器库。

不到两周前的7月13日，也门国际公认的政府表示，其部队袭击了胡塞武装控制的萨那国际机场的跑道，以阻止一架伊朗飞机降落。

然而，最新袭击标志着政府在打击胡塞武装方面大幅提升了自身空中力量的使用。此前，在也门战争最激烈的几年里，沙特领导的联军飞机为反胡塞武装提供了大部分空中火力支援。

周五的空袭行动正值伊朗支持的胡塞武装试图从西塔伊兹和南荷台达向摩卡推进，并占领俯瞰红海入口处关键的曼德海峡的地区之际。多年来，胡塞武装一直在争夺也门的控制权。

控制该地区可能会加强胡塞武装在红海沿岸的地位，该组织此前曾袭击过商船和军舰，并威胁到政府的一条重要补给线。

这场冲突是在更广泛的地区冲突背景下展开的。胡塞武装近期宣布对沙特阿拉伯实施红海海上封锁，而美以与伊朗战争期间霍尔木兹海峡航运中断，凸显了经由红海的替代航线的战略重要性。这意味着，胡塞武装在曼德海峡周边地区影响力的任何扩张，都可能对也门以外的航运产生深远影响。

以下是我们目前所了解的情况。

周四，胡塞武装在塔伊兹西部和荷台达南部的前线发动大规模攻势，使用弹道导弹、无人机和大炮，与试图向红海沿岸政府军控制区推进的地面部队展开激战。

战斗主要集中在塔伊兹以西的地区以及位于曼德海峡附近、由政府控制的港口城市马哈周边地区。

亚丁的一名也门官员告诉法新社，胡塞武装正试图占领俯瞰曼德海峡和麦哈的山丘，然后再向海岸推进。

半岛电视台记者优素福·马乌里从萨那报道称，胡塞武装在塔伊兹西部取得了进展。

“据国际公认的政府军方官员称，胡塞武装已经占领了部分领土，”莫里说。“在塔伊兹西部，他们成功占领了一个战略军事基地，该基地位于一座战略要山上，使胡塞武装能够俯瞰整个地区。”

马乌里表示，在巴拉赫和马格巴纳附近发生了特别激烈的战斗，那里有一条主要道路，用于向驻扎在塔伊兹和麦哈的政府军提供补给。

据法新社统计，自胡塞武装发动攻势以来，已有超过 120 名武装分子丧生，使也门近年来最致命的冲突成为一场大规模冲突。

据政府运营的萨巴电视台报道，一枚弹道导弹击中了马哈地区的一家餐馆，造成多名平民死亡，另有多人受伤。

据萨巴通讯社报道，周六，胡塞武装向也门西南部一条拥挤的道路发射导弹，造成至少四名平民死亡，另有九人受伤。

萨巴通讯社援引当地和医疗消息人士的话称，周六，伊朗支持的武装组织袭击了位于塔伊兹市南部战略要道希贾阿卜德路沿线的一群平民。

最近紧张局势的背后是什么？

2014 年 9 月，胡塞武装占领了也门首都萨那，随后控制了也门北部和西部的大部分地区，这促使沙特阿拉伯领导的阿拉伯国家联盟于 2015 年 3 月介入，支持国际社会承认的也门政府。

2022年4月，在联合国斡旋下达成的停火协议大幅减少了战斗。尽管该协议在六个月后正式到期，但胡塞武装与沙特支持的政府军之间的大规模敌对行动仍然相对有限，沙特阿拉伯也继续与胡塞武装进行谈判。

然而，并未达成全面的和平协议，导致前线局势基本处于冻结状态，冲突并未结束。

2月28日，美国和以色列对伊朗发动战争后，这种脆弱的现状面临越来越大的压力。7月，伊朗政府军空袭胡塞武装控制的萨那国际机场，阻止了一架伊朗飞机降落，紧张局势进一步升级。

我们对也门空军了解多少？

现代也门空军是在1990年北也门和南也门统一后成立的，统一后的两支军队都装备了苏联和西方的飞机。

其机队随后包括米格-21和米格-29战斗机、苏-22战斗轰炸机、美国制造的F-5战斗机以及各种直升机和运输机。

但胡塞武装占领萨那后，也门武装部队分裂，政治危机在 2014 年和 2015 年演变为战争。

沙特阿拉伯随后介入，其联军以空军基地、防空系统和作战飞机为目标，试图阻止胡塞武装利用也门空军。

这使得沙特领导的联军，而不是也门政府自身实力削弱的空军，在随后的战争中提供了大部分空中力量来支援政府军。

从2015年3月到2022年停火协议签署，沙特领导的联军战机进行了数万次空袭，打击胡塞武装的军事阵地，并在政府军的大规模地面攻势中提供空中支援。这场空袭也造成了大量平民伤亡，并成为这场战争中最具争议的方面之一。

2014 年至 2022 年间，人权观察组织记录了数十起联军对民宅、市场、医院、学校、拘留中心和其他平民场所的明显非法空袭事件。

2024年，美国和英国对也门胡塞武装阵地发动了新一轮空袭。今年早些时候，美国五角大楼披露，2025年美军对也门胡塞武装的袭击造成153名平民死亡，另有243人受伤。此前，美国一直否认其袭击造成平民死亡。

也门冲突引发了巨大的人道主义危机。2021年，联合国估计，自2014年以来，也门已有37.7万人死亡，其中60%的死亡是由于粮食短缺和缺乏医疗服务造成的。

也门政府为何现在动用自己的空中力量？

此前，政府一直依靠沙特领导的联军空军力量。如今，政府决定部署自己的战机，以遏制胡塞武装的攻势。胡塞武装最初在塔伊兹西部的多个战线上取得了进展，并威胁到连接塔伊兹和红海港口城市麦加的主要道路。

也门裔美国分析人士、也门驻华盛顿大使馆前发言人穆罕默德·巴沙告诉半岛电视台，胡塞武装本周在塔伊兹西部发动了一次出人意料的多轴进攻，取得了一些初步进展，暂时占领了部分阵地，并对俯瞰塔伊兹-马哈走廊的地区构成了威胁。

但他表示，这些进展并没有带来该组织似乎所寻求的更广泛的突破。

“前线没有崩溃，塔伊兹-马哈走廊没有被切断，向其他具有重要战略意义的地点扩大攻势的企图也得到了阻止，”巴沙补充道。

据巴沙称，政府军和盟军收复了第一天战斗中失去的大部分领土，而胡塞武装在其他几个方向上的推进也被遏制或击退。

此后，政府派出了增援部队，飞机的使用使这些部队能够以另一种方式攻击胡塞武装的阵地和集结地，以夺回高地并阻止该组织切断塔伊兹-马哈公路。

胡塞武装为何此时发动攻势？接下来会发生什么？

巴沙表示，俯瞰泰兹-麦哈公路的努曼山是目前最重要的争议地区之一，而胡塞武装试图占领海斯以北的杜巴山，但被国民抵抗军击退。

占领这样的高地可以让胡塞武装观察并威胁政府的补给线，而失去高地则可能使向麦加方向的进一步推进变得更加困难。

“因此，第一天的战况呈现出复杂多变的局面，”他说道。“胡塞武装凭借多轴突袭的突然性和速度取得了一些阵地，但随后大部分阵地都被收复了。”

新政府军的到来，加上空中支援，可能会使胡塞武装更难重现最初的突破。

“下一阶段可能会更加艰难，”巴沙说。“双方都在加强兵力部署，多个阵地仍处于争夺之中，控制努曼山仍然是当务之急。”

“接下来的几个小时，反胡塞武装可能会努力夺回这座山，巩固防线，并阻止胡塞武装再次向塔伊兹-马沙走廊推进。”