The death toll from days of fighting in southwest Yemen passed 300 on Sunday, 7 September 2026, as Iran-backed Houthi forces pushed toward a gateway to the Red Sea.
AFP compiled the figure from military and medical sources on both sides. It includes combatants and some civilians. It is the deadliest flare-up in Yemen since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July.
What happened over the weekend
Two officials with Saudi-backed government forces told AFP that 84 of their troops were killed between midday Saturday and early Sunday, mostly in missile attacks. Four Houthi military sources said 57 rebel fighters were killed in the same stretch.
The Houthis opened the offensive on Thursday, 3 September. The aim, military sources said, is to cut off the government-held port of Mokha — also spelled Mocha or al-Makha — and move toward ground overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait.
A government official said the rebels succeeded on Saturday evening in “cutting off the road linking Taiz to Mokha.” Families from Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi fled to displacement camps with mattresses, livestock, and little else.
“The shooting came at us from above and from below,” Rawdhah Hasan, displaced from Maqbanah, told AFP. “We fled with our children without even putting on our shoes.”
The front, as of Sunday morning
A government official in Aden said fighting eased in the early hours of Sunday. Government forces, the official said, established positions north of Hays, a frontline district less than 30 kilometres inland from the Red Sea.
The same official said Houthis had advanced west of Taiz and south of Hays in the push toward Bab al-Mandab. That is a claim from one side. Independent confirmation of the new lines was thin.
Farea Al-Muslimi of Chatham House told AFP the Houthis were trying to exploit a weak front at Mokha and cut ties between Taiz, the port, and the strait. “If they have a chance to fully take over Bab al-Mandab, they won’t hesitate for a second,” he said.
Why this coast matters now
Bab al-Mandab is the southern door to the Red Sea and the Suez route between Asia and Europe. With commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz under wartime restrictions, that second chokepoint has gained weight.
The Houthis do not hold the land immediately beside Bab al-Mandab. They do hold Hodeida, north of Mokha. Control of the hills above Mokha would put them closer to both the port and the shipping lane.
A fragile truce with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government fell apart in July after the rebels welcomed an Iranian plane to Sanaa. The Houthis have also announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and begun targeting its ships.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA said on Friday that about 1,790 households were displaced after shelling in Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi. A spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned,” warning of political, economic, and security damage for Yemen.
This brief is an original Utila summary of public reporting on 7 September 2026. It is not a reprint of another publisher. Casualty figures are those reported by the parties and compiled by AFP; they have not been independently verified.
Key Takeaways
- More than 300 people have been killed in southwest Yemen since a Houthi offensive began on 3 September.
- The push is aimed at isolating Mokha and moving toward the Bab al-Mandab strait.
- Officials said Houthis cut the Taiz–Mokha road on Saturday evening.
- The UN said about 1,790 households were displaced in Taiz districts.
- Hormuz wartime disruption has raised the strategic weight of the Red Sea gateway.
