Houthis Advance on Aden: How Close Are They to the City?

Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, widely known as the Houthis, has pushed its forces to within 80 kilometres of the interim capital Aden after overrunning the mountainous al-Maqatira district of Lahj governorate, bringing its units closer to the city than at any point since the opening months of the war in 2015. Four Yemeni military sources said on November 2 that fighting had reached a government camp at the entrance to Tur al-Baha district, one of the main approaches to Aden, about 50 kilometres from the provincial capital of Lahj. The offensive had begun only three days earlier, on October 30, with government forces falling back towards Tur al-Baha as the district was taken. The speed of the advance against entrenched government brigades highlights how significantly the balance on the southern fronts has shifted since the movement’s Red Sea coast campaign in September.

The assault opened at around 2 a.m. on October 30 from several axes at once, through Hayjat al-Abd, Hayfan and the al-Sawalha front, with more than 40 military vehicles reportedly moved through Hayjat al-Abd towards the market town of Souq al-Rabou, according to Yemeni field sources. Forces of the Tur al-Baha axis withdrew on the first day from Jabal Anan, the height overlooking Souq al-Rabou, leaving the 1st Maghawir Brigade of the National Resistance and the 4th Hazm Brigade to hold the line further south while warplanes carried out five strikes on Houthi concentrations in Hayjat al-Abd and north of al-Rahda. Houthi official Hamid Rizq later released video of fighters entering Souq al-Rabou, which has not been independently verified, and media aligned with the movement claimed on November 2 that its fighters had seized the headquarters of the 4th Mountain Infantry Brigade at Mu’baq and surrounded the camp at Tur al-Baha on three sides.

The government’s account differs considerably, with the Tur al-Baha axis command stating on November 3 that its forces had retaken positions at al-Khazzan al-Ahmar on the Nusayra front in al-Sawalha and repelled attacks around Hayfan. The ground at stake matters well beyond Lahj, since the Maqatira heights overlook the road linking Taiz to Aden, which has served throughout the war as the last link between government territory and Taiz. That city, Yemen’s third largest, has been encircled since early October, when Houthi forces cut its main road south, with the siege having displaced more than 100,000 people and left the city short of food, fuel and medicine.

The push follows the movement’s September offensive down the Red Sea coast, in which it seized territory along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and Yemeni military sources have warned that a breakthrough at Tur al-Baha could allow it to outflank government forces holding that front. It also comes as Aden itself has come under direct fire, with Houthi missiles striking Aden airport on October 28 after an evacuation warning and the Maashiq presidential palace hit earlier in October, while Saudi Arabia has intensified strikes on Hodeidah province and the movement has claimed attacks on Dammam airport. Houthi forces last reached Aden in the spring of 2015, briefly entering the city before local fighters backed by the Saudi-led coalition drove them out that July.