At least five people were killed on Thursday near the al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden after Houthi missile strikes, raising fresh questions about whether Yemen’s internationally recognised government can keep its military campaign going. Yemeni Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani was at the palace when the attack happened but was not hurt.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack targeted an operational headquarters. He described it as part of a wider campaign against Saudi-backed fighters and equipment supporting the government in Aden. Missile launches over northern Yemen, including over the capital Sanaa, have long been a routine part of life for residents there.
Supply routes under strain in Taiz and the Red Sea coast
Frequent Houthi missile attacks, combined with the group’s territorial gains around the city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen, have cut key supply routes. They have also threatened roads, ports and airports that government forces depend on. These disruptions could undermine the government’s Dawn of Yemen operation, which aims to recapture territory held by the Houthis, including Sanaa. The Houthis seized the capital at the start of the war in 2014.
Losses over the past few months have been a serious setback. In early September, a rapid Houthi advance south along the Red Sea coast captured Mocha, a port and a key supply hub for pro-government forces in western Taiz governorate. A government counter-offensive retook some of the territory lost in the southern Red Sea coast region, but not Mocha itself, which remains in Houthi hands.
The situation in Taiz shows the limits of the government’s logistical options. Houthi forces have cut the main road linking the city to Aden, the seat of the internationally recognised government. Alternative routes through the surrounding mountains have also been disrupted, leaving Taiz effectively besieged. Fuel shortages and soaring prices have hit the city since the latest Houthi advances, and the cost of petrol tripled last week.
Government officials say the offensive will continue
Government officials, however, say supply problems will not stop the offensive and that their forces can overcome logistical challenges. Colonel Wadah al-Dubaish, spokesperson for the government-aligned Joint Forces on Yemen’s West Coast, told that the Houthis have repeatedly tried to sever supply lines but have failed to halt them. In his words, “So, military operations against the Houthis will continue.”
Al-Dubaish acknowledged that Houthi attacks and ground advances may delay deliveries or raise the cost of getting supplies to some fronts. He insisted, however, that they cannot stop the flow entirely, because air, land and sea routes remain open. He also said that losing one battle does not mean losing the wider conflict. “The war is still ongoing and will not cease until the Houthis are defeated,” he said.
Yemen’s deputy minister of justice, Faisal al-Majidi, told that government forces rely on “logistical flexibility and decentralisation” to secure supply lines across the country. Under this approach, supply routes are split into semi-autonomous sectors, supported by nearby access points and key hubs. Al-Majidi named Shabwa, Marib, Houthi-free areas in Taiz, the Red Sea coast and the southern governorates as examples. He said the model helps offset the difficulty of moving supplies between widely separated front lines.
Al-Majidi also said government forces have been fighting to control high ground overlooking major roads, to help protect vital supply arteries from bombardment. One focus has been the mountainous district of al-Waziiya in Taiz governorate. It overlooks the Red Sea coast and could serve as a launching point to ease the siege of Taiz from the west. Fighting there is continuing.
Saudi support and the challenge of unified command
Saudi Arabia has increased its support for the government and allied forces since the launch of Dawn of Yemen. It has acknowledged airstrikes against Houthi forces for the first time since a 2022 truce. Riyadh first intervened in the conflict in 2015 to try to restore the Yemeni government to Sanaa. The Saudi-led coalition says its airstrikes have destroyed hundreds of high-value targets since early October.
Al-Dubaish described Saudi military support as pivotal and indispensable. “Saudi support is a decisive factor in the conflict,” he said. He argued that without it, the government would face a huge challenge confronting Houthi forces, which he said possess advanced capabilities, including ballistic and cruise missiles supplied by Iran, along with a large pool of fighters.
Al-Majidi called the Saudi air support a “strategic balancer” and a vital pillar of the operation. He said its role includes providing direct cover for ground troops, disrupting Houthi reinforcements and targeting missile and drone launch sites. The coalition has previously airdropped weapons and ammunition to pro-government fighters in Taiz during the siege in the early years of the war. There have been no reports of similar drops since the latest siege began this month.
Uniting an anti-Houthi side that remains divided may be an even bigger task, and Saudi Arabia is also central to that effort. Al-Dubaish said poor coordination among military units remains a major problem. “The coordination problem stems from the presence of multiple military units operating under different command structures,” he said, adding that “This fragmentation is not in the best interest of the forces fighting the Houthis.”
Coordination problems were partly to blame for the government’s loss of the Red Sea coast in September, when anti-Houthi forces appeared unable to respond quickly to the Houthi advance. This was despite government messaging earlier in the year that these forces were operating under a unified command. That messaging followed the defeat, at the start of the year, of separatist Southern Transitional Council forces, which had been backed by the United Arab Emirates.
In January, the Presidential Leadership Council, the United Nations-recognised authority led by President Rashad al-Alimi, set up the Supreme Military Committee. Its aim is to oversee all anti-Houthi military units and bring them into the official Yemeni military under one command. Yet the committee has not erased long-standing divisions. The forces have historically had different command structures and funding sources, and the losses on the Red Sea coast have shown how hard it is to coordinate battlefield operations.
Adnan al-Jabarni, a Yemeni researcher specialising in military affairs, told that coordination among government forces is improving. “These forces are currently testing their coordination, given that they only began to operate under a unified structure following the withdrawal of the UAE from Yemen and the formation of the Supreme Military Committee,” he said. He argued that friction among pro-government forces is easing and that supply lines remain intact despite Houthi attacks.
Al-Jabarni said the Houthis appear to be trying to pressure Saudi Arabia and the government by targeting civilian facilities and supply lines, particularly vital infrastructure. “I believe this is likely to intensify the pace of anti-Houthi operations rather than slowing them down,” he said.
