Yemeni forces capture Houthi commander amid fighting in Taiz

ADEN – Yemen’s government-aligned forces said on Tuesday they had captured a Houthi field commander and several of his men and carried out airstrikes against reinforcements belonging to the Iran-aligned group in southwestern Taiz province, where government forces have continued to make military gains.

The developments came as the Houthis launched missiles and drones at Saudi cities and energy facilities on Tuesday, adding to a wider regional escalation more than six months into the US war with Iran.

The National Resistance Forces, part of the government-aligned joint forces, said in a statement that they had “captured Houthi commander Abu Ali al-Adhari, one of the rapid intervention force commanders on the Al-Barh front”.

The commander “was captured along with several of his men following fierce clashes,” it said.

In a second statement, the military media of the forces said aircraft had “struck Houthi militia reinforcements in the Al-Kadha and Al-Barh sectors in western Taiz.”

The Houthis did not immediately comment on the statements.

Fighting between government forces and the Houthis has intensified in recent days across several fronts, particularly in Taiz, Al-Jawf and Al-Bayda provinces, alongside airstrikes targeting Houthi positions.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the kingdom would not hesitate to defend itself against any attacks and would use all available means to protect its interests, while keeping the door open to diplomatic solutions in dealing with the Houthis.

“We will not hesitate to support what serves the interests of Yemen and the region,” he said.

Yemen has been at war since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and large parts of the country in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led Arab coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.

The Houthis, a military, political and religious movement, control most of northwestern Yemen and have disrupted global trade and energy markets through attacks on commercial shipping and oil tankers in the Red Sea.

The group began attacking ships in the Red Sea and launching drones and missiles towards Israel in 2023, saying it was supporting Palestinians during Israel’s war in Gaza. It resumed attacks on Red Sea shipping and Saudi Arabia this year in response to the US war against Iran, a close Houthi ally.

The Houthis emerged in northern Yemen in the 1990s as a revivalist movement of the Zaydi branch of Shi’ite Islam, which had previously ruled Yemen. Their northern stronghold was poor and marginalised.

The group fought a series of guerrilla wars against the Yemeni army and a brief border conflict with Saudi Arabia. After Arab Spring protests ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, the Houthis strengthened their control over northern Yemen and rejected a Gulf-backed political transition.

With Iranian support, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi was meanwhile transforming the group from a force of mountain fighters into a movement numbering tens of thousands. In 2014, the Houthis seized Sanaa and pushed the internationally recognised government south towards Aden.

Concerned about growing Iranian influence in Yemen and instability along its border, Saudi Arabia led a military intervention against the Houthis in early 2015 to drive them out, restore the government and revive the political transition plan.

The ensuing civil war created one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises and led to years of fierce fighting and destructive airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, including the United Arab Emirates. Neither side, however, was able to secure decisive gains in Yemen’s mountainous terrain, leaving the Houthis in control of the northwest, where most of the population lives.

The Houthis developed significant missile and drone capabilities and attacked oil facilities and critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. After years of fighting, the United Nations brokered a truce between Yemen’s warring parties in 2022 that maintained a relative lull until this year.

The group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping between 2023 and 2025 had a significant impact on global trade, forcing cargo ships travelling between Europe and Asia to take the longer and more costly route around Africa. Its threats against oil tankers during the war with Iran have added pressure on Gulf energy flows after Tehran severely restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, deepening a global oil crisis.

Iran considers the Houthis part of the region’s “Axis of Resistance”, which includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi Shi’ite armed groups, although its relationship with the Yemeni movement is less clear-cut than its ties with those groups.

The Houthis do not recognise Iran’s Supreme Leader as their ultimate religious authority, as Hezbollah and the Iraqi groups do, and their motivations are primarily domestic despite their ideological alignment with Iran.

The United States says Iran has armed, financed and trained the Houthis with help from Hezbollah. The Houthis deny being Iranian proxies and say they develop their weapons themselves.