Yemeni Forces Report Gains as Houthis Say Strikes Killed Civilians Near Sanaa

Yemen's government forces said on November 7, 2026 that they had repelled Houthi assaults in Marib province after hours of fighting backed by warplanes and drones. The same day, the Iran-aligned Houthi movement said airstrikes near the capital, Sanaa, had killed at least 27 people. Al Jazeera reported both accounts and said it could not independently verify either side's claims.

Government spokesman Colonel Majed al-Nazili said the army carried out 875 attacks on Houthi positions on November 7, neutralising about 130 Houthi commanders and fighters. He said the army destroyed or disabled 50 vehicles and missile launchers, and that forces had destroyed Houthi fortifications and combat equipment in Marib.

Government forces also said they were pushing into Houthi-held areas of al-Jawf province, where fighting had entered a third consecutive day. They described this as part of the "Dawn of Yemen" operation, which Yemen's internationally recognised government launched more than a month ago to take territory from the Houthis. On November 6, government forces also gained ground in Taiz, according to the Council on Foreign Relations' conflict tracker.

The fighting has been building for weeks. In early October, the head of Yemen's Presidential Council, the body that leads the government, announced military operations to retake territory from the Houthis. On November 2, Reuters reported, citing sources, that the Houthis had advanced to within 80 km of the southern port city of Aden, and that fighting was under way at a military camp at the entrance to Tur al-Bahah district.

The Houthis said strikes killed at least 27 people and wounded about 30 others in Sanaa province. Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Sanaa-based Ministry of Health, said the strikes hit al-Shariya village north of Sanaa and that most of the casualties were women and children. The Houthis blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the attack. Mahdi al-Mashat, president of the Supreme Political Council, vowed to avenge it. Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that Yemen's Parliament condemned the targeting of al-Shariya.

The Houthis also claimed six attacks on Saudi Arabia using ballistic and cruise missiles and drones. The targets they named included King Khalid International Airport and oil facilities in Riyadh, an oil site at Khurais, an oil pumping station at Dawadmi, a National Guard camp in Najran, and Saudi troop gatherings in al-Jawf and Marib. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said early on November 7 that coalition forces had shot down a Houthi ballistic missile over the Riyadh region.