Turbah Falls – A New Threat to Taiz

On Sunday, the Iran‑aligned Houthi movement took the town of Turbah, which sits on the main highway that joins the port of Aden with the historic city of Taiz. For years the Yemeni government, supported by Saudi Arabia, used Turbah as a forward staging post to shield Taiz from Houthi incursions. Its loss not only severs the flow of troops and materiel but also opens fresh axes from which the rebels can tighten the siege on Taiz.

Taiz, Yemen’s third‑largest city, sits at a crossroads of major transport routes. With Houthi fighters already entrenched in villages on the city’s outskirts, the Turbah capture gives them a clearer road to encircle the city from several directions.

Red Sea Front Expands Further

Earlier this month the Houthis accelerated their push along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast, taking the strategic port of Mokha and a cluster of islands that overlook the Bab al‑Mandab Strait. Controlling these points threatens one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints, where a sizable share of global oil and cargo traffic passes each day.

International analysts warn that any disruption in the strait could reverberate far beyond Yemen, jeopardising regional stability and global shipping lanes.

Government Launches Wide‑Scale Counter‑offensive

In response, the Presidential Leadership Council announced a sweeping military operation aimed at retaking Houthi‑held ground. Council Chairman Rashad al‑Alimi presented the plan in a televised address, urging the international community to back Yemen’s legitimate authorities.

Saudi Arabia swiftly pledged “full operational support,” with Major General Turki al‑Maliki confirming that Riyadh would supply the resources needed to halt the Houthi advance.

Missile and Drone Strikes Raise Tensions

Hostilities have intensified after a series of missile and drone attacks, blamed on the Houthis, struck Saudi territory. The exchange escalated in July when the Houthis claimed a Saudi strike on Sana’a airport was meant to block an unauthorised Iranian aircraft.

Since that episode, Houthi‑launched missiles and drones targeting Saudi facilities and government‑aligned forces in Yemen have surged, and the group has warned it may expand attacks on Saudi‑linked shipping in the Red Sea.

Supply Lines to Taiz at Risk

A study by the Washington‑based Institute for the Study of War cautioned that Houthi control of the road network north of Turbah could choke the flow of reinforcements, weapons and humanitarian aid to government‑held positions in Taiz. The new reality may force Yemeni forces to resort to longer, riskier routes for both advance and retreat.

The War’s Deepening Human Toll

Yemen’s civil war erupted in 2014 when Houthi fighters marched south from their northern strongholds, seized the capital Sana’a and forced the internationally recognised government into exile in Saudi Arabia. Years of fighting have turned Yemen into one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises.

  • More than 150,000 people are estimated to have died since the conflict began.
  • The United Nations reports over 800 deaths and 3,600 injuries in the latest round of fighting.
  • UN agencies say more than 145,000 Yemenis have been displaced internally, with an additional 3,000+ seeking refuge across the sea in Djibouti.

The seizure of Turbah, the push toward Taiz, and the renewed government offensive have thrust Yemen’s protracted war into an even more volatile phase, deepening the humanitarian emergency and sounding alarm bells across the region.