A series of maps published by AJLabs tracks the shifting front lines of Yemen's conflict, now in its 12th year since the Houthis seized Sanaa on September 21, 2014. The most recent maps document the launch of Operation Dawn of Yemen on October 5 by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC). Government forces reported recapturing positions around Dhubab and the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait on the first day of the offensive, though the full extent of the gains could not be immediately confirmed.
The operation follows a significant Houthi advance in September. After attacking west of Taiz, the Houthis seized the port city of Mocha on September 10, and by September 11 had advanced into Dhubab and Mayyun Island, completing their reported takeover of the Red Sea coast. The fighting triggered a wave of displacement, with UNICEF reporting nearly 130,000 people, including 71,000 children, displaced in three weeks. PLC Chairman Rashad al-Alimi called for a general mobilisation and offered amnesty to Houthi fighters who defect.
The maps illustrate over a decade of fragmentation. The Houthis, an Iran-aligned group, have held Sanaa and most of northwestern Yemen continuously since 2014. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) held territory separately from government forces, though the STC's leadership fractured in early 2026 following the loss of Hadramout and al-Mahra. The government's December 2018 Stockholm Agreement with the Houthis froze the front line at Hodeidah but failed to achieve a decisive military or political breakthrough.
While the government launched its new offensive, it also lost territory in the Taiz governorate, leading to a siege on the city of Taiz itself, one of the most populous government-held areas. Fighting also spread to Marib province, where government forces claimed gains around the Maas camp and north of Harib. Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, which the group said were launched in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, have drawn reprisal strikes from Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States, making Yemen's coastline and the Bab al-Mandeb strait a central front in a confrontation extending far beyond the country's borders.