Strikes hit Sanaa, Saada and Taiz
SANAA, Oct. 4, 2026 — Yemen’s internationally recognized government said on Sunday that its armed forces had struck Houthi targets across the country, deepening an escalation that has already set oil facilities ablaze in Saudi Arabia and tightened the Houthi grip on Red Sea shipping.
Military spokesman Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili said the armed forces launched strikes against the Houthis in the capital Sanaa, the northwestern governorate of Saada — one of the group’s strongholds — and Taiz in the southwest. He described the targets as “vital” and warned that the Houthis’ military capabilities would be destroyed, according to reports carried by regional media.
Yemen was plunged back into civil war in July after years of relative calm, pitting the Iran-aligned Houthis — who control most of northwest Yemen, including Sanaa — against the Saudi-backed government based in the southern city of Aden.
Sanaa ‘hit 26 times,’ Houthi media says
Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that “Saudi enemy aircraft” hit Sanaa with 26 strikes, without giving details on the targets or casualties. Two correspondents in the capital reported hearing loud explosions and seeing warplanes firing missiles at the city, according to international media.
The government strikes came hours after the Houthis claimed a missile-and-drone attack on an oil facility near the Saudi capital, where an AFP journalist saw flames and smoke rising from an Aramco site south of Riyadh on Saturday afternoon. Saudi authorities have not confirmed any attack, and the company did not respond to requests for comment.
The two foes have traded strikes since the Houthis seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandab strait in a lightning offensive last month, state media on both sides reported.
Fighting rages around Taiz
Yemen’s armed forces said on Saturday they had carried out scores of targeted operations against Houthi gatherings, military buildups and reinforcements across Taiz Governorate. The operations destroyed several Houthi transport and support vehicles and disrupted the group’s ability to keep fighting, the forces said.
Heavy fighting continues on Taiz’s western edge, with both sides reporting significant casualties, according to regional outlets.
Wider regional escalation
The Yemeni escalation unfolds against a broader regional standoff. Reuters reported this week that Saudi Arabia is planning an offensive in the coming weeks to retake Bab al-Mandab, with options ranging from a focused assault on the strait to a broader multi-front offensive.
Hostilities resumed earlier this year after the Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July and began attacking Saudi territory and commercial shipping, according to Reuters. Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes inside Yemen while backing government forces fighting to push back the Houthis.
Fighting between the two sides had largely stopped after a 2022 truce, but the current spiral is playing out as a spillover from the wider war between Iran and the United States, analysts said.
