Yemeni government forces carried out attacks on Houthi positions along the country's western coast, according to RTP, which reported the strikes on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
The reported operation comes as the Iran-backed Houthi movement has been expanding its presence along Yemen's Red Sea shoreline. According to Folha de S.Paulo, the rebels took stretches of the Red Sea coast on September 11, 2026. VEJA reported that the Houthis also seized a strategic island located on a key oil shipping route.
Separately, R7 reported that the Yemeni army downed Saudi fighter jets and pushed westward toward the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. GZH framed the wider question raised by the Houthi advance as whether it amounts to a full blockade or piracy.
Taken together, the reports describe a fast-moving campaign in which the Houthis have moved toward one of the world's most important maritime chokepoints while government forces attempt to counter them on the western coast. The Bab-el-Mandeb strait links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and sits on a route used by oil tankers and commercial shipping.
Details of Saturday's strikes — including their exact location, scale and casualties — were not provided in the material available. RTP's report did not specify which units conducted the attacks.
What to watch next: whether government forces can halt the Houthi push toward Bab-el-Mandeb, and how shipping traffic through the strait responds.
