Houthi missile attacks and territorial gains are threatening the supply lines needed for Yemen’s government forces to sustain their offensive against the group, despite officials insisting the campaign will continue.
At least five people were killed on Thursday near the al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden when missiles struck the area. Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani was at the palace at the time but was not injured.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack had targeted an operational headquarters involved in supporting Saudi-backed fighters and the internationally recognised government.
The strikes came as Houthi forces expanded their hold around Taiz in south-western Yemen, disrupting routes, ports and airports relied upon by government troops. The developments have raised questions over whether the government can maintain its Dawn of Yemen operation, which aims to retake territory including the capital, Sanaa.
The Houthis seized Sanaa at the start of the war in 2014. Government forces are now fighting on several fronts, including the southern Red Sea coast, around Taiz, and in Marib and al-Jawf, east of the capital.
Supply routes under pressure
A Houthi advance along the Red Sea coast in early September captured Mocha, a port and important supply hub for pro-government forces in western Taiz governorate. A government counter-offensive recovered some territory in the area, but Mocha remains under Houthi control.
In Taiz, the main road linking the city with Aden has been cut, while alternative routes through the surrounding mountains have also been disrupted. The city is now effectively under siege, with fuel shortages and sharp price rises already affecting residents and military operations.
The price of petrol tripled last week, according to the account of the situation provided by officials. The loss of access routes has also made it more difficult to move ammunition, reinforcements and other supplies to troops facing sustained Houthi attacks.
Colonel Wadah al-Dubaish, a spokesman for the government-aligned Joint Forces on Yemen’s West Coast, said Houthi attacks could delay deliveries or make them more expensive but would not stop them altogether.
“The Houthi group consistently attempts to sever supply lines to government forces, but they have been unable to halt these supplies. So, military operations against the Houthis will continue,” he said.
Mr al-Dubaish said air, land and sea routes remained available, allowing supplies to reach the front lines. He acknowledged that war involved advances and retreats, arguing that the loss of a single battle did not amount to defeat in the wider conflict.
“The war is still ongoing and will not cease until the Houthis are defeated,” he said.
Saudi support and divided command
Saudi Arabia has increased its backing for the Yemeni government and allied forces since Dawn of Yemen began, including acknowledging air strikes against Houthi positions for the first time since a 2022 truce.
Riyadh first intervened in Yemen in 2015, seeking to restore the government to Sanaa. The Saudi-led coalition has said its air strikes have destroyed hundreds of high-value targets since early October.
Mr al-Dubaish described Saudi military support as indispensable, saying the government would face a major challenge without it. He pointed to the Houthis’ ballistic and cruise missiles, which he said had been supplied by Iran, as well as the group’s large pool of fighters.
Faisal al-Majidi, Yemen’s deputy justice minister, said Saudi air support provided a “strategic balancer” for the operation by covering ground forces, disrupting Houthi reinforcements and targeting missile and drone launch sites.
However, the coalition has not been reported to have carried out the kind of weapons and ammunition airdrops used to support pro-government fighters in Taiz during earlier years of the war.
The government’s military effort is also complicated by divisions between the forces fighting the Houthis. Units have historically operated under different command structures and funding arrangements, with poor coordination identified as one factor in the loss of parts of the Red Sea coast in September.
That setback came despite government claims since the start of the year that anti-Houthi forces were operating under a unified command. In January, the Presidential Leadership Council, Yemen’s United Nations-recognised authority led by President Rashad al-Alimi, established a Supreme Military Committee to oversee and integrate the various forces into the official military.
The committee has not removed the longstanding differences between the groups. Their continuing difficulty in coordinating battlefield operations has been particularly significant for Taiz, where relieving the siege will depend on recovering roads that can be used to move supplies.
Government relies on flexible supply network
Mr al-Majidi said the government was responding by using “logistical flexibility and decentralisation”. Supply routes were divided into semi-autonomous sectors, supported by nearby access points and hubs in areas including Shabwa, Marib, government-held parts of Taiz, the Red Sea coast and the southern governorates.
Government forces have also sought control of high ground overlooking major roads, allowing them to protect supply arteries from bombardment. Fighting continues in al-Waziiya, a mountainous district in Taiz that overlooks the Red Sea coast and could provide a route for relieving the western approaches to Taiz city.
Adnan al-Jabarni, a Yemeni military affairs researcher, said coordination between government forces was improving. He said the groups were still testing their ability to work together after beginning to operate under a unified structure following the withdrawal of the United Arab Emirates from Yemen and the formation of the Supreme Military Committee.
Mr al-Jabarni said Houthi attacks on civilian facilities and supply lines were intended to pressure Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government. In his view, the attacks were more likely to accelerate anti-Houthi operations than to halt them.
Mr al-Majidi described coordination between the different forces as the decisive test for the success of Dawn of Yemen. For now, government officials maintain that their supply network remains operational, but the continuing loss of roads and territory is placing the offensive under growing logistical strain.
