Bab al-Mandab Clashes Leave 63 Dead as Control Is Disputed

Bab al-Mandab clashes left at least 63 fighters reported killed in the 24 hours covered by Saturday's dispatch, according to military sources from both sides cited by France 24. Government sources said their forces were advancing near the strait; a Houthi political official said the assault was repelled. The accounts do not establish who controlled the ground.

What is confirmed

Reports on the Bab al-Mandab clashes published Saturday, Oct. 10, said fighting in western Yemen around the strait killed at least 63 people in the preceding 24 hours, according to military sources from both sides cited by AFP. The sources divided the figure into 35 government fighters and 28 Houthis. The tally is attributed to the parties' military sources, not an independently verified count. France 24 reported that fighting continued and that journalist access was limited, leaving rival battlefield claims unverified.

Xinhua's Oct. 10 report said fighting intensified on Friday, Oct. 9, between Houthi forces and government troops in southwestern Yemen. A Yemeni government military official told Xinhua that forces renewed an offensive near the strait to push into Houthi-held areas, and claimed dozens of Houthi fighters died. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV gave a conflicting account: it said troops advancing from Lahj toward the southern approaches to Bab al-Mandab were repelled, with dozens of casualties among the advancing forces. Neither casualty claim was independently confirmed in the reports reviewed.

A government military source told AFP on Friday that the operation had Saudi air support. In an earlier account published Saturday, Business Recorder's AFP report quoted that source saying, “fighting is fierce and advances are limited.” Yemen Monitor, in a report published Friday night, relayed a different government-side claim: a Yemeni military source told the German Press Agency that the Southern Giants Brigades had taken the strait, Mayyun Island and nearby positions. Saudi Ambassador Mohammed al-Jaber also posted that Bab al-Mandab had been “liberated” from Houthi forces. Yemen Monitor said operations continued but gave no final casualty figure.

Later Saturday, France 24 reported that government military sources said Mayyun Island remained in Houthi hands as fighting continued. That account conflicts with Friday's claim of control. The reports establish that a ground operation and clashes were reported; they do not independently settle the battle's territorial outcome or the death toll.

What the parties said

The government-side account described an offensive backed by Saudi air power. A military source within Yemen's internationally recognized government told AFP that the operation was a “major operation” and said “fighting is fierce and advances are limited,” as reported by Business Recorder. Saudi Ambassador Mohammed al-Jaber separately said the strait had been “liberated from the last elements of the Houthi terrorist militia”; the report did not include evidence for that claim.

Houthi political bureau member Hizam al-Asad told AFP, “our forces repelled them outside the Bab al-Mandab zone,” and said the Houthis retained control of the strait, Mayyun Island and the western coast. In a Saturday interview carried by Al-Masirah, military expert Khaled Ghurab claimed Houthi forces destroyed about 30 armored vehicles and inflicted significant personnel losses. These are Houthi-side claims; independent reporting did not verify the losses or territorial control.

France 24 led with the government account that forces were advancing, while its headline said Yemen “says” they were advancing. It called the other side the “Houthis” and described the government as Saudi-backed and internationally recognized. The report included the Houthi claim of repelling the assault and the 63-death tally attributed to military sources from both sides; it did not cite Yemen Monitor's earlier claim of control or independently verify the battlefield accounts. France 24 is not a party to the conflict.

Xinhua placed the battle inside a wider escalation, opening with the UN envoy's warning that Yemen had returned to “full-scale war.” It called the actors “Houthis” and “government forces backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition,” first presenting the government official's claim of Houthi deaths before giving Al-Masirah's contrary account. Xinhua also foregrounded airport and airstrike reports from other fronts, while its dispatch did not include the later 63-death breakdown. It is China's state news agency, not a party to the Yemen conflict.

Yemen Monitor headlined its Friday report as a declaration that the strait and Mayyun were under control. It foregrounded the Saudi ambassador's post and a military source's account of the Southern Giants Brigades' advance, using “Houthi elements”; it reported no final casualty figure and omitted the Houthi claim that the assault had been repelled. The outlet is not a belligerent, but its report relied on government-side sources. By contrast, Al-Masirah framed the same battles as failed Saudi-backed advances, used the term “criminal Saudi enemy,” and foregrounded its interviewee's claim of vehicle and personnel losses. It is not a combatant, but it is a Houthi-run channel and presents that side's account.

The record so far

Inside this reporting window, the government announced a Friday offensive, both sides' sources described fighting near Bab al-Mandab, and military sources cited by AFP attributed at least 63 deaths to the preceding 24 hours. A Friday government-side declaration of control was followed by a Saturday report that Mayyun remained in Houthi hands. The independent record does not confirm who held the island or reconcile the death toll.

GenZ NewZ's earlier Mokha capture-claim report covered a separate territorial claim, while its Aden airport report documented a different attack. Neither establishes control of Bab al-Mandab or verifies the current casualty figures.