Yemeni government’s military says its forces advancing against Houthis

Video Duration 27 minutes 35 seconds 27: 35. How much worse can Yemen's humanitarian crisis become?

Key points

• Al Jazeera's Yousef Mawry, reporting from Yemen on Saturday, remarked the Houthis had yet to claim responsibility for the latest attack.
• There are intends to launch ballistic missiles towards Pakistan and attack Pakistan-flagged vessels in the Red and Arabian seas, he went on.
• The military of Yemen's internationally recognised administration states it has killed hundreds of Houthi fighters in targeted operations over the past 24 hours.
• Battles are now raging around the strategic southern Yemeni cities of Mocha and Dhubab.
• Mawry remarked the Houthis were preparing to fight the war on multiple fronts, including against the participation of international actors, such as Pakistan.

Video Duration 27 minutes 35 seconds 27: 35. How much worse can Yemen's humanitarian crisis become? By Al Jazeera Staff. Published On 10 Oct 202610 Oct 2026.

In practice, the military of Yemen's internationally recognised administration states it has killed hundreds of Houthi fighters in targeted operations over the past 24 hours.

Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, the spokesman for Yemeni administration forces, stated at least 1, 150 Houthis were killed in almost 2, 000 targeted operations nationwide as part of operation "Dawn of Yemen".

He remarked the army had destroyed Houthi ammunition dumps and at least 180 combat, transport and supply vehicles operated by the Houthis, adding that ground forces "continued to advance their assault". Al Jazeera could not independently verify the information.

For context, an attack on King Khalid International airport in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, on Saturday killed and injured a number of residents and led to flights being cancelled.

When asked if the United States would join strikes against the Houthis after the attack, President Donald Trump remarked to journalists at the White House that he "will make a decision soon".

But the Iran-backed group has cautioned aviation businesses to avoid using Saudi airspace, saying any aircraft operating there – except over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina – is a target.

"The Houthis say that if Pakistan engages in any military activities against them on behalf of Saudi Arabia, then they will be treated in the same fashion as the Saudis are currently being dealt with, " Mawry remarked.

"The fighting is spreading on multiple fronts, but it is a situation that will keep escalating, " Baraa Shiban, an associate fellow in international security and Yemen expert at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, informed Al Jazeera, adding that the violence will not be "dying down" anytime shortly.

"There is no mediation happening this time – there no regional or local mediators that are able to cool down the situation, " he remarked.

Notably, the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces are advancing on the Houthis in a bid to recapture areas around the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical trade route for global shipping into and out of the Red Sea.

Battles are now raging around the strategic southern Yemeni cities of Mocha and Dhubab. It are on the Red Sea coast and strategically significant for control of Bab al-Mandeb.

Although both sides claim control of the shipping lanes, the Houthis, who have controlled Sanaa and parts of northwestern Yemen since 2014, seized the area in September, effectively taking control of the strait.

Taken together, the developments around yemeni government's military says its forces advancing against Houthis point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.