Houthis cut Yemen’s Taiz off from Aden in major battlefield gain

DUBAI, Oct 4 — The Yemeni Houthis have taken control of a key supply route connecting Taiz with Aden, the internationally recognized government's interim capital, according to four security sources. An AFP reporter on the ground in the area reported that Houthi forces had captured the al-Safiya region, where they demolished the main road and seized a police station.

Three sources from Yemen's military confirmed Houthi control over the area and the critical supply route, effectively encircling Taiz city. The military sources added that the Houthis had also halted all traffic on the primary route linking Taiz to Aden, with ongoing fighting in the region. The Houthi advance follows several days of intense battles between the group and government forces in and around Taiz.

Taiz remains under government control but has long been besieged from multiple directions by Houthi fighters, making it one of the central battlegrounds in Yemen's civil war. The conflict reignited in July amid the broader Middle East tensions, leaving Yemen among the world's poorest nations and grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis.

The war escalated in September when the Houthis launched a rapid offensive, capturing Yemen's entire Red Sea coast, including the crucial Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital international shipping lane. Simultaneously, the group has imposed a blockade on Saudi energy exports, which are already under strain due to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Yemen's conflict began in 2014 when the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government from the capital Sanaa and subsequently seized control of northern regions. Saudi Arabia intervened in the war the following year, leading a coalition effort to counter the Houthis.