print-icon
print-icon
Add ZeroHedge as a preferred source on Google

Houthis Seize Yemen Parliament Speaker's Home, Cut Taiz-Aden Lifeline As All-Out War Erupts

Tyler Durden's Photo
by Tyler Durden
Authored...

Iran-aligned Houthi forces have seized the home of Yemen's parliament speaker, Sultan al-Barakani, during a lightning advance south of Taiz that has also cut one of the government's most important remaining supply routes, according to reports. 

Multiple Yemeni and regional outlets reported Sunday that Houthi fighters entered al-Barakani's residence in Wadi al-Barakani, south of Taiz, and established positions inside. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported the seizure citing field sources, while Al-Ain placed the property in the Al-Ma'afer district and said the Houthis occupied it following heavy fighting with Yemeni forces and local residents. China's Xinhua subsequently quoted a Yemeni government official confirming that Houthi forces had captured the al-Barakani area containing the parliament speaker's house.

Aden Al-Ghad later published video which it said showed Houthi fighters entering the property. Footage circulated by the open-source researcher @war_noir shows armed men moving through a large reception hall lined with seating, then cuts to the white compound on the hillside.

Al-Barakani has served as speaker of the internationally recognized Yemeni parliament since 2019 and remains one of the most prominent political figures aligned with the anti-Houthi camp - so images of Houthi fighters inside his residence therefore make for obvious propaganda.

Taiz's Lifeline Is Cut

The Houthis' advance through southern Taiz governorate has severed the critical road network connecting Taiz with Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen's internationally recognized government.

The Critical Threats Project and Institute for the Study of War assessed Sunday that Houthi forces advanced through al-Safiyah and al-Mansora before capturing the strategically vital town of al-Turbah, citing geolocated imagery as well as Yemeni sources.

Al-Turbah sits at the junction of the two main roads connecting government front-line positions around Taiz with Aden.

CTP/ISW warned that Houthi control there will likely "severely constrain" the government's ability to reinforce and resupply forces across Taiz governorate.

Control of the roads south of Taiz could also deny government troops an obvious escape route if the Houthis continue closing the ring around the city.

The Houthis had already demonstrated that they did not need to physically occupy every junction to cripple the route. Earlier attacks damaged sections of the Taiz-Aden ground line of communication, forcing government forces onto increasingly limited alternatives. Fighting on the Taiz axis was already underway in the days before the house seizure: government troops firing on Houthi positions, and Houthi fighters claiming Jabal al-Habashi.

The Front Has Been Moving For Weeks

On September 10, we reported that the Houthis had seized the strategic port of Mocha as government forces abandoned positions along Yemen's western coast, dramatically increasing Houthi leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb shipping chokepoint.

The following days brought additional Houthi gains around the Red Sea coast and Bab el-Mandeb, while Saudi-backed formations struggled to stabilize the front. As we also noted, the group was accumulating actual coastal territory overlooking one of the most important maritime passages on the planet. By late September, the crisis had become serious enough that Yemen's Saudi-backed leadership was publicly calling for broader mobilization.

On Monday reports are emerging that the Houthis may have lost Mocha, in what would be a hugely symbolic setback if accurate:

As we reported Saturday, Saudi Arabia and Yemeni government forces were preparing a force potentially exceeding 100,000 troops for a major counteroffensive aimed at retaking the Red Sea coast and securing Bab el-Mandeb.

Saudi officials had again sought direct American military involvement, according to reporting cited at the time, but Washington declined to provide the airstrikes Riyadh requested as cover for the ground campaign, while leaving open intelligence and other support.

On Sunday, Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad al-Alimi declared that the government was moving from preparation to action. We covered his announcement Sunday as he ordered military operations intended to retake Houthi-held territory across Yemen.

The Counterattack Has Begun

Reuters reported that Saudi-backed Yemeni forces, supported by Saudi air power, had attacked Houthi positions around the Dhubab district overlooking Bab el-Mandeb and claimed to have seized several key positions, including the Dhubab airstrip.

The Houthis disputed the government's claims, and fighting remained underway. Later Monday, Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani claimed government forces had secured "effective control" of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which the Houthis called false, even as a government source said fighting continued at a military base near the strait. Video from the coast showed an Al Arabiya correspondent with government forces coming under what the outlet described as a Houthi ballistic-missile attack near the strait.

Reuters described Taiz as increasingly encircled as Houthi forces pushed toward al-Mawasit even while government troops launched their coastal counterattack.

The Associated Press likewise reported Monday that the Saudi-led coalition had intensified its air campaign as government forces began a major offensive along the Red Sea coast following the Houthis' latest territorial gains. The coalition said 100 fighter jets were backing the government's forces.

And Now The President's Residence?

On Monday, Xinhua cited Yemeni sources saying Houthi forces had entered the al-Aloum area of al-Mawasit district, where the family home of Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad al-Alimi is located.

Houthi-aligned media went further, claiming the residence itself had fallen. Video posted Monday shows fighters posing, praying, and celebrating outside a large multi-story building, with a Yemeni flag raised on the roof. @war_noir and Yemeni accounts identified the site as al-Alimi's family house.

Reuters has not verified the reported seizure of al-Alimi's home, though UAE-based Erem News, citing local sources, reported Monday that Houthi fighters took the house, where his relatives live, without resistance.

Beyond Yemen

Yemen's war - comparatively frozen since the UN-brokered truce of 2022 - has suddenly erupted across multiple fronts.

Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea and Suez route with the Indian Ocean. The Houthis have already demonstrated the ability to threaten commercial shipping using missiles, drones and unmanned vessels; territorial control around the chokepoint adds an entirely different dimension to that threat.

As we have has been documenting for months now, the Red Sea has also become increasingly important to Saudi energy exports as turmoil elsewhere in the region places pressure on alternative routes.

0