Houthis advance in Yemen, strike Aden airport as Saudi-backed forces retreat

On Wednesday, Houthi forces struck Aden airport with an explosive that detonated moments before a passenger plane from Cairo was scheduled to land. The timing was narrow enough that the British ambassador to Yemen, Abda Sharif, warned the attack could have endangered thousands of people aboard the aircraft. The flight was diverted to Jeddah instead, and the incident prompted officials to review safety protocols for all flights using the airport, which serves as the main international hub for the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

The attack was part of a broader push by Houthi forces across south-west Yemen. On the same day, they advanced toward Taiz, the country's third-largest city, while also firing a missile in the direction of Aden airport. Independent observers monitoring the conflict began to assess that the Houthis were positioned to capture Taiz, noting that forces aligned with the Saudi-backed government appeared to be withdrawing to consolidate their hold on Aden. Saudi warplanes had been attempting to use their air superiority to strike Houthi concentrations near the city, particularly to the west, but the territorial momentum seemed to be shifting.

The Houthis also claimed responsibility for missile strikes against two airports inside Saudi Arabia, including one near Riyadh. Saudi authorities initially stated the attacks had been repelled, then revised their account to acknowledge three people killed and 36 wounded in the strikes. The claims and counterclaims reflected the fog that often surrounds such incidents, with competing narratives about what had actually been hit and what damage had been inflicted.

The shift in the military picture prompted a significant reassessment from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research organization that tracks the conflict closely. The institute had previously concluded that Houthi forces operating on the coastal plain were collapsing under pressure. In light of developments over the preceding 24 hours, however, it adjusted that judgment. The evidence now suggested that the Houthis had not only halted the advances of government-aligned forces but were themselves moving forward. The institute's reversal underscored how quickly assessments of the conflict could change, and it also reflected criticism that had circulated on social media about some of the claims regarding government progress that had been circulated earlier in the week.

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the group's reclusive leader, marked the third anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel with a lengthy public address. He used the occasion to connect the various conflicts roiling the Middle East, urging Yemenis to examine Saudi Arabia's role in the Palestinian cause and arguing that the kingdom's official positions masked a deeper betrayal of Palestinian interests. He also criticized the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera network for its coverage of the Yemen war, and he accused the Saudi government of conspiring against what he called the Islamic resistance in Lebanon, claiming it had aligned itself with the United States and Israel against Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, the Southern Giants, a pro-government militia, continued efforts to recapture the Bab al-Mandab strait, the narrow waterway at the southern tip of the Red Sea that had been the initial target of an offensive launched by the Yemeni government on Monday. The militia had advanced to positions in the military airport sector of the Dhubab district, near the strait itself. The fighting for control of this strategic chokepoint remained active even as the broader territorial picture in south-west Yemen shifted in ways that surprised some analysts.