Video posted by government forces in Yemen showed them driving armoured cars over opposing fighters as they recaptured areas around the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Iran-backed Houthis on Monday (October 5, 2026) in a deadly new phase of the fragmented country’s war.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the extent of government gains and the Houthis denied they had lost ground, saying the government claims of advances were baseless. The Saudi-led coalition backing the government forces in Yemen did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the videos or the Houthi accusations of war crimes. A spokesperson for the Giants Brigade — the main Yemeni government force involved in the fighting at Bab el-Mandeb this week — did not immediately comment in response to a Reuters request. Intense fighting meanwhile continued around Yemen’s third-largest city of Taiz, where Houthi gains in a mountain district have in recent days cut off a main road to Aden, leaving government forces encircled.
Fighting continued near Bab el-Mandeb on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) as Saudi-backed government forces battled to consolidate Monday’s counter-attack, besieging Houthi fighters at a military camp near the strait and pushing into hills to the east, Yemeni military sources said.
A Houthi statement decried the videos as proof of war crimes, saying they showed “the true nature of the Saudi regime and the forces it has mobilised from extremist factions”. The Homeland Shield Forces, a significant formation in the Yemeni government’s military coalition, did not comment directly on the videos but issued a directive on Tuesday urging troops to treat prisoners well and adhere to religious, ethical and legal standards.
