Yemen's Government Claims New Gains in Push to Reverse Houthi Advances
Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces said on September 22, 2026, they had seized Mount Qarafan in the al-Shamayatayn district of southern Taiz and Mount Zalat near Kahboub. The claims are part of a push to reverse Houthi gains along the Red Sea coast earlier in September. Al Jazeera
Yemen's military said five Houthi fighters were killed and 20 others were injured in the Mount Qarafan operation. That toll could not be independently verified, and the Houthis did not confirm the government account in the material cited.
On the Kahboub front, which overlooks the Bab al-Mandeb strait, pro-government Homeland Shield Forces, known in Arabic as Quwat Dira' al-Watan, said they stopped a Houthi infiltration attempt. The strait is the narrow waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, like a doorway for global shipping. Government forces separately reported capturing Mount Zalat near Kahboub on September 22. Independent verification is thin, and fighting there is fluid.
The Houthis claimed Saudi Arabia conducted airstrikes in Taiz, al-Jawf and Marib. Riyadh had not confirmed those alleged strikes as of September 23, 2026.
Pressure points on the west coast
The September 22 claims follow fast-moving fighting on Yemen's western coast. The government lost ground on the Red Sea coast to Houthi rebels earlier in September, then announced a counter-effort on several fronts.
Yemeni government forces withdrew from Perim Island, and Houthis reached the strategic island at the mouth of a vital shipping lane on September 11, 2026, according to Yemeni government sources. Reuters
Government forces said they had recaptured strategically located territory in Hodeidah province from Houthi control, as reported on September 6, 2026. Al Jazeera
Yemeni government forces and Saudi Arabia carried out air attacks to stop the Houthis' advance, as reported on September 13, 2026. Government forces later said the coalition had struck Houthi positions around Mocha and that government forces had launched drone attacks, as reported on September 17, 2026. Yemen's National Army engineering teams, working with coalition teams, detonated sea mines laid by Houthi militia.
On September 19, 2026, Yemen's Houthi group said it carried out two military operations targeting Saudi Arabia. Reuters
Fighting intensified along Yemen's west coast, as noted in UN Security Council remarks in September 2026. The Council held a meeting on the Middle East (Yemen) on September 15, 2026, with remarks by UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari and a briefing by UN Special Envoy Grundberg on September 10.
Displacement and diplomacy in New York
Recent hostilities displaced about 132,000 people, including 75,000 in Taiz alone, according to the International Organization for Migration, the UN-related agency that tracks displacement. Al Jazeera
Presidential Leadership Council member Abdullah al-Alimi is leading Yemen's delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York and is scheduled to address the Assembly later in the week of September 23, 2026. Yemeni Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba called for disarmament of non-state armed groups, meaning armed groups outside state control, at a meeting on the Assembly sidelines.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told the General Assembly that any Yemen settlement must be based on the outcomes of Yemen's 2013-14 UN-facilitated national dialogue while preserving Yemen's unity, sovereignty, security and stability. Ireland told the Assembly it was deeply concerned about Yemen's humanitarian situation and that freedom of navigation, the right of ships to pass safely, must be protected in the Bab al-Mandab strait.
Other governments have stated positions in recent weeks. The U.S. Embassy in Yemen said the Yemeni government, armed forces and people have the capability and determination to end the aggression. The United Kingdom condemned the Houthi militia's resumption of the war in Yemen and its recent attacks on Saudi Arabia. The G7 called on Houthi militias to immediately stop military operations and attacks targeting civilian shipping. The UN Special Envoy warned the Security Council on August 13 that Yemen was at risk of entering a wider Middle East conflict.
The broader context here is a contest over momentum and public narrative as much as land. Government statements focus on hilltops taken, infiltration attempts stopped and air support delivered. Houthi statements focus on reach, including alleged Saudi airstrikes to answer and cross-border operations to publicize. The central problem for observers is the gap between ground claimed and ground held. Mount Qarafan and Mount Zalat matter tactically if they are kept and supplied, not if they change hands again within days.
Looking at what this could mean next, two timelines now overlap. One is military, centered on Taiz province, the Mocha-Kahboub corridor and the approaches to the Bab al-Mandeb strait, where sea mines and risks to civilian shipping keep insurers, navies and aid groups focused. The other is diplomatic, centered on New York, where al-Alimi's scheduled speech, al-Zouba's disarmament call and the Qatari and Irish statements test whether UN attention can be turned into leverage. Displacement on the scale reported by IOM limits both timelines. It raises the cost of continued operations and increases scrutiny of aid access, civilian protection and freedom of navigation.
