Iran-aligned Houthi fighters have advanced to within 80 kilometres of Aden, the main stronghold and temporary capital of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, four military sources told Reuters on Monday.
The advance brings the Houthis closer to Aden than at any point since the early months of the war in 2015, when they briefly entered the city before being driven out. The claim rests on those military sources: Yemen’s information minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and no independent confirmation of the front line was available in the report.
Fighting was under way on Monday at a military camp at the entrance to Tur al-Bahah district, one of the main approaches to Aden. The camp lies about 50 kilometres from Lahj, the provincial capital, and 80 kilometres from Aden itself.
The sources said the Houthis launched their assault on government positions in Al-Maqatirah three days ago and have since taken the whole district. The mountainous area overlooks the road linking Taiz to Aden, and government troops were forced to retreat towards Tur al-Bahah.
That road matters far beyond the immediate battlefield. It is the last remaining link between government-held territory and Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, which has been encircled since early October, when the Houthis cut its main road south to Aden. The siege has displaced more than 100,000 people and caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine, according to the report.
The push also threatens strategic positions along the main Aden-Taiz road itself, a vital artery for south-western Yemen. The military sources said it gives the Houthis a chance to outflank government forces along the mountain range overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes and a key route for Saudi oil exports to Asia. Government troops had expelled Houthi fighters from the area only weeks ago.
It follows a broader offensive that began in September, when the Houthis swept down Yemen’s Red Sea coast and seized territory along the strait. Attacks on Aden itself have also intensified in recent weeks: the group struck Aden airport on Wednesday after warning people to evacuate, while the presidential palace was also hit in October.
The violence has shattered a United Nations-brokered truce from 2022 that had largely halted major attacks in a war that began in 2014, when the Houthis drove the government from the capital, Sanaa. The latest offensive has opened a volatile new front in the wider US-Israeli war on Iran, drawing both the Houthis and Saudi Arabia deeper into the regional conflict. The Houthis have escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s government, while the Saudi-led coalition has stepped up strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen.
A video posted by Houthi official Hamid Rizq, which Reuters said it could not immediately verify, purported to show the group’s fighters entering Souq al-Rabouh in Maqatirah district. That footage should therefore be treated as unverified.
Sources: Reuters, “Yemen’s Houthis advance to within 80 km of Aden, sources say”, 2 November 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/yemens-houthis-advance-within-80-km-aden-sources-say-2026-11-02/
