• Saudi Arabia has suspended operations along its East-West oil pipeline as a precaution following a drone attack launched from Iraq. Riyadh is holding off on immediate retaliation to give Iraqi authorities time to prevent further strikes.
• US President Donald Trump claims the Houthis reached out to Washington, asking it not to intervene in their conflict with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.

Two wounded by Houthi projectile near Saudi border with Yemen

A Houthi projectile wounded two people in an area along Saudi Arabia’s southern border with Yemen, according to the Saudi Civil Defence directorate.

Several buildings and vehicles were also damaged in the attack in Jazan’s al-Tuwal governorate on Saturday, it said.

The directorate said its “teams in al-Tuwal governorate, Jazan region, responded to an incident involving a projectile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia, resulting in two injuries and material damage to a mosque, several buildings, and vehicles”.

Houthis claim missile and drone attack on Saudi military base

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels say they carried out a strike targeting a military base in southern Saudi Arabia using ballistic missiles and drones.

The attack at the southern Sharurah base targeted “weapons depots and command and control centers that are managing the aggression against our nation and people”, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on X.

Saree did not say when the attack took place, but he warned Saudi Arabia that further military actions against Yemen would prompt larger, more intense strikes deeper inside Saudi territory.

"Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on X"

His X-account has been suspended since August 13, 2026.

Saudi Arabia says mosque and homes damaged in alleged Houthi strike

Saudi Arabia has released a video showing damage to a mosque and several buildings, including homes, caused by a projectile it says was fired by Yemen’s Houthis.

The Houthis say they were targeting a Saudi military base.

Houthis accuse Israel of continuing Gaza assassinations with US, Board of Peace support

Yemen’s Houthi political bureau has accused Israel of continuing assassinations and ceasefire violations in Gaza with direct US support and what it described as cover from countries in the Board of Peace.

The statement came as the group offered condolences over the reported killing of Mohammed Abdulsalam al-Yazouri, described as the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade and a member of the Qassam Brigades’ military council, in an Israeli strike on Gaza.

The Houthis said the killings would not weaken Palestinian armed groups and called for continued support for the Palestinian cause.

They also urged firm opposition to what they described as Israeli violations against Muslim holy sites, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque.

About 1,400 flee Yemen for Djibouti, minister says

About 1,400 people have fled Yemen for Djibouti due to fighting between government forces and Iran-allied Houthis, Djibouti’s minister of economy and finance said on Saturday.

Located opposite Yemen on the Horn of Africa, tiny Djibouti borders the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the entrance to the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden.

“1400 #refugees arrived in #Djibouti from #Yemen in just 24 hours,” Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh wrote on X.

According to the United Nations, at least 76,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since July, with the number quadrupling in the last week after the latest fighting.

Yemen presidential council member says forces regrouping after west coast setback

Sultan al-Arada, a member of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and governor of Marib, says government forces that withdrew from the west coast are regrouping and will return to the battlefield.

In an interview with state-run Saba TV, al-Arada described what happened on the coast as “painful and unfortunate”, but said such setbacks were part of the nature of war.

Al-Arada accused the Houthis of bringing the peace process to a dead end and “forcing the option of war” back on Yemen.

He said government forces were continuing to fight on several fronts and that the ultimate objective in Marib and elsewhere remained “the restoration of the capital, Sanaa”.

Al-Arada also said troops who withdrew from the coast were being reorganized in Marib.

“The forces that withdrew are now rearranging themselves, and they will return to the battle again in one form or another,” he said.

Houthis seize strategic Mayun Island

Houthi forces have taken control of Mayun Island, also known as Perim, giving the group a strategic foothold in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and tightening its grip on Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

The 13sq km volcanic island sits in the middle of the strait and divides Bab al-Mandeb into two channels, making it a key position overlooking one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

The Houthis also control the surrounding coastline, including the port city of Mocha, giving them a stronger position from which to threaten maritime traffic. Security analyst Wolfgang Pusztai said the group now has “the real capability to shut down any maritime traffic through Bab al-Mandeb if they want to”.

But holding Mayun may prove more difficult than taking it. Andreas Krieg of King’s College London said the Houthis are well placed to defend the island in the short term because they control nearby territory, but that Mayun would be difficult to defend against an amphibious assault over the longer term.

At least 76,000 flee fighting in Yemen since July: UN

At least 76,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since July, with the number quadrupling in the past week as fighting flared between government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the United Nations said Saturday.

“The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is warning of a rapidly worsening displacement crisis in Yemen unfolding by the hour,” the UN agency said in a statement.

Since the Houthis announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia in July, “at least 76,000 people have fled their homes”, IOM said.

“That’s four times last week’s total, as fighting intensifies,” it said, warning that “entire families are on the move, often at night. They have nowhere safe to go”.

The announcement came just a day after the agency put the number at 46,000 displacements since the start of the month, up from 18,500 announced on Tuesday.

The displacements had happened across the west coast and Taiz areas, the IOM said.

Taiz was the hardest-hit, it said, with some 8,300 households, or nearly 50,000 people, displaced from districts in that province alone.

Pezeshkian says Iran is ‘not at war with Saudi Arabia’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran is “not at war with Saudi Arabia”, as tensions rise over Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

Pezeshkian said the Houthis have “their own issues”, distancing Iran from the group’s actions.

Yemeni government’s internal rifts an obstacle in fight against Houthis

Political infighting and division within the military forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government are stymying the fight against the fast-moving Houthis, an analyst says.

“You’re not going to be able to defeat the Houthis with a split command and control with eight armies sort of competing over influence,” said Mohammed al-Basha, founder and lead analyst of the Risk Advisory Basha Report.

“This is the biggest item that is empowering the Houthis and making them continue to advance is the infighting. They’re finger pointing and blaming each other.”

Al-Basha said tensions within the anti-Houthi coalition are decades old, starting with the southern war in 1986 up to the Arab Spring in 2011 and all the wars in between.

At least 1,400 people from Yemen escape fighting to Djibouti

Djibouti’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia says 1,400 people from Yemen have fled the fighting to seek shelter in the country over the past day.

“Djibouti has always remained a safe haven for brothers from neighboring countries in times of hardship and crises, despite the increasing burdens and pressures – security, economic, and humanitarian – that these influxes impose on the country,” he said.

Djibouti hosts tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers.

The Houthis seized the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday and have since overrun the coastline and islands surrounding the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The rapid offensive has forced tens of thousands of Yemenis to flee.

Saudi air raids hit Houthi positions in south, central, north Yemen

From Yousef Mawry, Sana'a

As far as government forces trying to recapture territory near the key city of Mocha from the Houthis – that’s not happening. What is happening is they’re picking and choosing where to hit with aircraft.

Over the past two days, Saudi fighter jets have been pounding various areas that fell under the control of the Ansar Allah Houthis, including central provinces and the north of the country, trying to prevent more Houthi advances.

In the government-held areas, Madhab is a stronghold, considered to be the economic hub of Yemen. Whoever controls it controls Yemen’s revenue stream. The Houthis have so far been unable to capture the city.

There are reports of clashes on the outskirts of Madhab, northeast of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Meanwhile, in the south of the country, there have been attacks on Houthi military buildups in Taiz. The name of the game for the Yemeni group is to go into stealth mode where they’re able to take over land, set up their underground bunkers, and then evacuate the vicinity to avoid Saudi air raids.

Yemen government forces say they shot down five Houthi drones

The Yemeni military reserve Homeland Shield Forces say they have shot down five drones, Anadolu has reported, adding the reserve’s 6th Brigade claims it downed the drones during clashes in the al-Aghbara area.

Separately, the September Net website, which is affiliated with the army of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, reported that air forces conducted a series of air raids against Houthi targets across the country, saying equipment had been destroyed and Houthi fighters killed, but providing no further details on the number of casualties.

Saudi air strikes target areas recently taken in Houthi advance

From Yousef Mawry, Sana'a.

The air strikes by Saudi Arabia have mainly targeted Houthi military advances. When you take over a location or an area, you have to have military reinforcements in order to maintain control of that area. That’s precisely what Saudi Arabia is targeting with these air strikes.

There have been 129 air strikes on the areas that have recently fallen to the Ansar Allah, including areas in the north where the Houthi group is trying to make advances into the city of Marib, a Yemeni government stronghold.

There hasn’t really been much retreat or backtracking from the Houthis. There aren’t any head-on clashes taking place. Right now, it’s mostly just air strikes. There’s not even artillery shelling because of how far Yemeni forces have retreated from the areas in the vicinity of the port of Mocha and Bab al-Mandeb.

No government forces are to be found anywhere near that area, which is why they are mostly resorting to Saudi air strikes to target the Houthis’ military advances.

More than 2,000 have escaped Yemen fighting to Djibouti, IOM says

The number of people arriving in Djibouti to escape the fighting in Yemen keeps rising.

“More than 2,000 people fleeing hostilities in Yemen have arrived on Djibouti’s shores,” the International Organization for Migration said in a social media post.

The UN’s migration agency added that in Obock, a city only about 20km (12 miles) across the water from the Yemeni coast, it is providing, along with authorities and partners, immediate assistance to those arriving, including water and hot meals.

“More support is needed,” the IOM said.

Houthis’ rapid gains in Yemen ‘absolutely a turning point’ in regional war

Adam Baron, a fellow with the Future Security Program at New America think-tank, says the drone attack from Iraq on Saudi Arabia’s pipeline reflects “the broader inflammable nature” of the reality in the Middle East.

“Since the launch of the US-Israeli war on Iran six months ago, we’re dealing with a situation where we have a multi-front series of interconnected conflicts ebbing and flowing in their inflammation across the region,” Baron said.

The Houthis rapid takeover of key cities along Yemen’s west coast from Saudi-backed forces is “absolutely a turning point”, he said.

“This constitutes the loss of some of the most strategically important real estate in all of Yemen. When it comes to Yemen’s strategic location, you can’t beat as a military group having access to Bab al-Mandeb.”

The retreat by internationally recognized government forces without much of a fight could be a tactic “for the fight to come”, said Baron. But, he added, Saudi-led air strikes are unlikely alone to dislodge the Houthis, and an “unified” ground force would be needed for such a task.

 

Yemen’s government vows to fight back after Houthi seizures

Sultan al-Arada, a member of the ruling presidential council, described the collapse of government forces in the port city of Mocha and elsewhere on Yemen’s west coast as “painful and regrettable”.

Al-Arada, also governor of central Marib province, said in a TV interview that government fighters “are currently regrouping and will return to the battle in one form or another”.

The National Resistance – commanded by Tariq Saleh, a nephew of Yemen’s late leader Ali Abdullah Saleh – also vowed to fight back saying it will “continue its struggle within the ranks of the armed forces … [until] Yemen is liberated from Iran’s proxies”.

The rebels’ rapid advance has been a major setback both to Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Saudi Arabia, which have battled the Houthis for 12 years.

Healthcare along Yemen’s west coast faces ‘huge gaps’ during power transition

The Houthi military advance has created “huge gaps” in the healthcare system in the Mocha area and along Yemen’s western coast, a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) official says.

Lou Cormack, MSF’s Yemen country director, said the flare-up in fighting has created “extremely confusing and complex” circumstances for health care providers.

Even before the latest Houthi takeovers, hospitals along the western coast were under intense stress before being evacuated over the weekend, Cormack said.

“With the panic of the evacuation in the last period, we’re trying to find where all our staff are,” said the director. “Essentially our team had breakfast with one set of authorities … and then by lunchtime had to go and connect with a whole new set.”

Although some hospitals are now starting to come back online, “the system still has huge gaps”, she said.

Fierce battles ongoing between advancing Houthis and Yemen gov’t troops

Heavy fighting is underway between advancing Houthi rebels and troops supporting Yemen ‘s Saudi-backed government at two major strongholds in the country.

Direct clashes erupted in the Kadha area of Maqbanah district near southwestern Taiz city.

“These are the first direct clashes reported since the fall of Mocha. Government forces, backed by air strikes, are engaged in fierce fighting on the Kadha front with reinforcements arriving from both sides,” reported Yousef Mawry.

Sources say the Ansar Allah Houthis are advancing towards the strategic northern city of Marib but are being met with “heavy resistance” from Yemeni soldiers.

“Government forces reportedly thwarted a large-scale Houthi attack in the al-Mashjah and al-Zour areas west of Marib. Clashes are ongoing near the strategic Mas camp with heavy artillery exchanges and air strikes targeting Houthi reinforcements arriving via Sarwah district,” said Mawry.

Marib and Taiz are the Yemeni government’s two major strongholds. Marib is the last major oil-and-gas hub under government control, hosts key military installations, and serves as the government’s primary logistics base in the north.

“Its fall would effectively collapse the government’s northern presence and hand the Houthis control of Yemen’s remaining energy resources,” Mawry reported.

Prolonged conflict likely in Yemen due to ‘deeply complicated set of set of dynamics’

It’s unlikely calmness will return to Yemen anytime soon, and its unclear who can put the breaks on the ongoing violence, Adam Baron, a fellow with the Future Security program at the New America think tank. says.

“We’re dealing with a deeply complicated set of set of dynamics that could really drag the conflict on for some time,” says Baron,

“While some of the reports that Marib is about to fall are a bit overheated, there is absolutely a huge Houthi mobilization towards Marib and other government-held areas in the centre of the country,” he added.

Baron added that Yemen “was managing to hold on in terms of a a relatively steady ceasefire,” referring to a UN-brokered truce between the Yemeni government and the Houthi’s in 2022.

At least 1,500 soldiers killed in month of Yemen fighting

More than 1,500 combatants from both sides have been killed over the past month during clashes between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group along the country’s western coast.

Aljoumhouriya TV, citing a statement by the government-aligned National Resistance Forces, said fighting between August 9 to Sept 10 left more than 500 of its forces dead and 1,500 wounded.

More than 1,000 Houthi fighters were also killed and thousands more wounded during the same period, it said. The casualty figures could not be independently verified by Al Jazeera.

Fierce fighting continues with the Houthis attempting to advance on the internationally recognized government’s two major strongholds in the south and north of Yemen.

Government-aligned forces acknowledge deaths of more than 500 Yemeni troops

More than 500 Yemeni troops have been killed, and about 1,500 have been injured, during clashes with the Houthis, the government-aligned National Resistance Forces has said in reports carried on local media in Yemen.

The numbers are from battles fought along the Yemeni west coast, from August 9 until September 10.

The National Resistance Forces claimed that Houthi losses during the fighting were far higher.

Yemen crisis has ‘no military solution’: Iran’s FM

Iran’s Araghchi has addressed the flare-up of Yemen’s civil war in his interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, saying Tehran’s position is “clear”.

“We believe that the issue of Yemen has no military solution and that the future of this country must be determined by the Yemenis themselves through dialogue and an inclusive political process,” he said.

Although the foreign minister emphasized that Monday’s meeting with Gulf nations is “not being held to examine the Yemen case,” he said the discussion is “important” given “the current conditions of the region”.

Pakistani PM condemns Houthi attacks in call with Saudi’s MBS

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and pledged support to the kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reports.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, during which they discussed the latest developments and diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey recently signed a military alliance known as the Mecca Pact, raising questions about whether Riyadh’s allies will intervene against the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia has just seven days’ worth of oil stored in Yanbu port, UK media outlet reports

Saudi Arabia has only between five and seven days’ worth of oil stored in its Red Sea port city of Yanbu, three unnamed sources have told Reuters, adding that Riyadh also has a smaller amount of oil stored in Egypt.

Saudi Arabia’s ability to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and continue exporting oil has been significantly hindered following an attack on its East-West Pipeline on Thursday morning.

The pipeline was suspended the following day as a “precautionary measure”. The route is Riyadh’s only major alternative for exporting oil without relying on the Strait of Hormuz.

Yemen government air force says it has destroyed Houthi ‘equipment, gatherings and personnel’ in Dhubab and Mocha

The official spokesman for Yemen’s government forces says its air force has destroyed Houthi “equipment, gatherings, and personnel” in what he described as the “kill box” areas of Dhubab and Mocha.

Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili made the claims in a post on X. Both places are located in the governorate of Taiz.

Government forces declared a military zone around the road connecting the city of Taiz to Mocha earlier this week, warning civilians to avoid the route.

The Houthis seized Mocha during a lightning offensive earlier this week that has helped expand and consolidate their control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline.

Saudi Arabia issues emergency alert in Khamis Mushait and Abha areas

An emergency alert has been issued in Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait and Abha areas, warning of potential danger, Saudi Civil Defence has said.

Saudi authorities say danger has passed in Khamis Mushait, Abha areas

Saudi authorities say danger has now passed in Khamis Mushait and Abha areas after an emergency alert was issued a few minutes ago.

Houthis ‘going for cities with resources’

The Houthis have several motivations for attempting to seize more land in Yemen, says Muhanad Seloom, a non-resident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.

“They have been struggling to pay salaries, for example,” Seloom said.

“The cities they are going for are cities with resources; oil resources and [other] types of resources. Will they stop there? Are they controlling these places? I don’t think so. It seems they are trying to control these places, but they are now exposed to the air force of Saudi Arabia and also of the recognised government,” he added.

Houthi media reported on Sunday that Saudi Arabia carried out two air strikes on the northern city of Saada, a stronghold of the Iran-backed group.

More than 950 civilian rights violations reported in Yemen

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms has reported that more than 950 violations against civilians have been documented across the western coast front lines following the Houthis’ entry into these cities, including more than 150 cases of killings.

Residents have fled en masse towards Aden and the Lahj Governorate following the Houthis’ takeover of the cities of Mocha and Khokha, as well as al-Wazi’iyah. The UNHCR said that the escalation of fighting in Taiz, the western coast and other governorates has displaced more than 50,000 people.

Djibouti’s economy minister said on X that about 1,400 displaced Yemenis had arrived in the country in the last 24 hours.

The Houthis had launched a widespread campaign of arrests targeting both civilians and military personnel.

The testimonies coming from the field are “shocking, painful and extremely distressing”, said Maha Ali in Taiz.

“We are hearing of families who have fled on foot, while others have been forced to travel on motorcycles. In many families, some members have remained trapped or stranded in areas now under Houthi control.”

Yemen’s military launches air raids on Houthi vehicles in Dhu Bab, Mocha

Yemen’s Air Force has targeted Houthi vehicles in the Dhu Bab and Mocha areas, says a spokesperson from the government’s armed forces.

Yemen armed forces reclaim strategic Taiz sites, inflict ‘heavy losses’ to Houthis

Yemen’s armed forces are claiming to have recovered sites in the Taiz Governorate that were captured by the Houthis.

“A military source in the Taiz axis stated that the armed forces recovered overlooking sites in the Jirdad area in the Shamayyatayn district, and advanced toward the Ghayl Bani Umar area, as part of ongoing operations aimed at expelling the Houthi militias from the governorate,” the armed forces said in a statement on X.

The source claimed that the forces seized military equipment during the confrontations and inflicted “heavy human losses” on Houthi militias, the statement also read.

The government forces also targeted the Houthis in the Dhubab, al-Waziyah and Haifan districts, as well as the al-Afayrah area in the Jabal Habashi district, the post added.

Yemen’s gov’t says 150 civilians killed in Taiz, Al-Hudaydah, Marib since September 3

At least 150 civilians have been killed since conflict erupted in the governorates of Taiz, Hodeidah, and Marib since September 3, according to a preliminary toll by the Ministry of Human Rights.

More than 200 people have also been wounded and 85,000 displaced, the ministry said.

It added that 2,000 people have fled to Djibouti, accusing the Houthis of shelling residential areas, displacement camps and civilian convoys, as well as committing violations – including killings, abductions, and looting – some of which may amount to war crimes.

Seizure of Yemen’s coast creates economic bottleneck for Red Sea nations

The Houthis have completed their takeover of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline, capturing the port city of Mocha and overrunning the strategic island of Mayyun (Perim) over the weekend.

Houthi forces are now positioned just 20km (12 miles) from the African coast and essentially control the strategically significant Bab al-Mandeb strait, a chokepoint for Red Sea maritime traffic.

While there are no indications that the Houthis would intervene outside Yemen’s borders, the war is already being felt on the African continent.

More than 2,000 people have fled Yemen to Djibouti over the past 24 hours, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday.

Oil prices surge as Middle East tensions escalate

Oil prices jumped by more than $3 as markets opened on Monday following new strikes on Saudi Arabia and Gulf shipping.

Brent crude futures surged $3.62, or 3.46 percent, to $108.23 a barrel by 22:14 GMT, while WTI futures climbed $3.15, or 3.15 percent, to $103.20 a barrel.

Supply fears spiked after Saudi Arabia temporarily shut down its key 1,200km (746-mile) East-West oil pipeline, which spans the Arabian Peninsula, following a Friday drone attack.

US in tight spot as Houthi gains may push Saudis towards Iran, analyst says

The US finds itself in a tight spot following recent Houthi gains, and if Washington fails to back the Saudis, Riyadh might feel forced into a reconciliation with Iran, according to Scott Uehlinger, a former senior CIA officer and military analyst.

Uehlinger said that the Houthis are Iran’s most effective proxy force, having repeatedly resisted strikes by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US.

“So, unfortunately, this puts, I think, Washington in a difficult position, because should they not assist Saudi Arabia in this, then Saudi Arabia, confronted with massively reduced oil exports, may consider itself in its own interests, that it has to reach out a conciliatory hand to Iran, and that’s something I think the United States wants to avoid,” he said.

Uehlinger said that Monday’s postponed meeting in Oman on the Strait of Hormuz is a key signal.

“That may actually be because United States has perhaps asked that that meeting be delayed while they can kind of confer with Saudi Arabia and agree on a path forward,” he said, adding that Washington fears that if not supported, Saudi Arabia may seek a deal with Iran to offset its shrinking oil exports.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence issues warning alerts for four locations

Saudi Arabia’s National Early Warning Platform has issued alerts of “potential danger” for Jazan and Najran provinces, and the cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait.

People have been told to immediately proceed to the nearest safe place and shelter until the danger has passed.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense says danger has now passed

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense says the danger has now passed in Jazan and Najran provinces, and the cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait.

A short while ago, Saudi Arabia’s National Early Warning Platform had issued alerts of “potential danger” in those areas.