Decade of Yemen War: Houthis Hold Capital Amid Fragmented Rule

Ten years of war have redrawn Yemen's front lines, yet the picture remains stubbornly fractured. The Houthis keep the capital, Sanaa, but no single faction owns the country. Looking at maps spanning twelve years shows shifting alliances and coalitions while poverty and malnutrition drag the nation down.

The Houthi armed group, known as Ansar Allah or Supporters of God, took Sanaa on September 21, 2014. They moved south from their home in northern Yemen's Saada region to seize power. The Iran-backed group turned antigovernment grievances into a weapon after fuel subsidy cuts sparked outrage in July 2014. Protests demanded the government reverse its decisions and step down. Houthi forces linked up with troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which helped them grab military posts and state buildings. Then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to Aden in February 2015. When his allies pushed toward that southern port city, Hadi sought refuge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention to bring back the internationally recognized government.

Over the next decade, partnerships crumbled and lines moved. AJLabs used seven maps to show how Yemen broke apart. No side could ever hold the whole country. By late 2016, two years after Sanaa fell, Yemen split into rival zones. The Houthi-Saleh alliance controlled Sanaa plus most of the northern and western heartlands where the bulk of Yemen's people live. Pro-government troops held land across the south and east with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates backing them. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula also challenged authority in parts of the south.

The antigovernment alliance suffered its biggest crack when Saleh looked ready to flip sides. This caused a brief fight between him and the Houthis, who then killed Yemen's former longtime president in Sanaa in December 2017. The Houthis, a Zaidi Shia group mostly, took sole charge of much northwestern Yemen, including Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah. Some pro-Saleh forces switched camps while pro-government and anti-Houthi troops controlled land across the south and east. AQAP kept pockets of influence too. Nearly three years into its air campaign, the Saudi-led coalition failed to restore Hadi's government in Sanaa.

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

In 2022, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council held territory separately from government forces after seizing Aden in 2019. Privileged access to information remains limited for those outside these fractured zones. The risk to communities is real as regulations and directives shape a public that cannot move freely or trust any side. Clarity over complexity matters here, because the situation demands simple truths about power and survival.

Officially aligned with the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) kept fighting the government repeatedly. President Hadi was forced to hand over his authority to an eight-member Presidential Leadership Council, ending his presidency without ever reclaiming the capital city.

By April 2023, negotiations between Riyadh and the Houthis sparked hope for a settlement after a truce in April 2022. Yemen remained split as it had been for years. The Houthis held firm over northwest Yemen while the STC undermined the internationally recognized government to build its own power base in the south. They hoped this strength would eventually lay the foundations for an independent state. Government forces controlled broad areas of the east, a region separatists also wanted to claim for any future nation.

The UAE-backed Hadrami Elite Forces held coastal Hadramout. The National Resistance Forces (NRF), led by Tareq Saleh, nephew of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and supported by the UAE, controlled part of the Red Sea coast. By March 2025, the Houthis had held Sanaa and most of northwest Yemen continuously for more than a decade. Government-aligned forces operated across the south and east. Houthi attacks on shipping, which they claimed were acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, drew retaliation from Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Yemen's coastline and the Bab al-Mandeb strait became central to a confrontation whose consequences reached far beyond the country itself.

In January 2026, government forces regained Hadramout and al-Mahra from the STC, which had seized those governorates in December 2025. Saudi air attacks and a government advance fractured the STC's leadership. A delegation in Riyadh announced the group's dissolution, but coalition officials in Yemen rejected that announcement. Its leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, fled the country. The map above shows contested authority across parts of southern Yemen and Socotra. Tareq Saleh's forces remain separately marked along the western coast while the Houthis retained Sanaa and the northwest.

The PLC sought to unify anti-Houthi formations. Regaining territory strengthened its position, but establishing a single command remained unfinished. On September 8, 2026, Houthi forces attacked west of Taiz in an attempt to cut road access to the Red Sea coast. Government forces initially claimed gains in Hais and western Taiz, but the port city of Mocha fell on September 10 as Tareq Saleh's NRF withdrew and repositioned. By September 11, government sources reported Houthi advances into Dhubab and Mayyun Island, completing their reported takeover of Yemen's Red Sea coast.

By September 25, nearly 130,000 people, including 71,000 children, had been displaced in three weeks, according to UNICEF. PLC Chairman Rashad al-Alimi called for a general mobilization and offered amnesty to Houthi fighters who defected. Government forces intensified their air and ground operations in Taiz towards the end of the month while Saudi Arabia sought support from Pakistan and Turkiye amid continuing Houthi attacks.

On October 13, 2026, after announcing Operation Dawn of Yemen on October 4, the internationally recognized government launched a major offensive on October 5 with the stated aim 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.

The report confirmed the capture of high ground in Haifan, western Taiz, and the vicinity of al-Waziiya. By October 13, clashes had moved into Marib as well. Government troops said they took key heights near Maas camp and held positions north of Harib at that time.

Yet these claimed victories came with a heavy price in Taiz governorate. The government lost territory there, sealing the city under siege. This matters because Taiz remains one of the most vital areas still controlled by state forces. The main highway connecting it to the south now falls into Houthi hands.

The fighting worsened Yemen's humanitarian disaster. On October 7 alone, over 200,000 people were forced from their homes. That number includes more than 3,700 who crossed the sea and reached Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration. Air strikes by government forces and the Saudi-led coalition grew fiercer, hitting Sanaa among other targets. Meanwhile, the Houthis kept launching ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia. One such strike on Riyadh's airport occurred on October 10 and left 13 dead.

How can anyone live under constant threat of bombardment? The rules of engagement shift daily, and ordinary people pay the bill. Access to news is often restricted or skewed, leaving communities in the dark about their own fate. When governments dictate security lines, civilians become collateral damage rather than protected subjects.