Bab al-Mandab Withdrawal: Southern Forces Redeploy

A Bab al-Mandab withdrawal from Dhubab Airport was announced Sunday by Yemen’s Southern Armed Forces, which said it was redeploying troops to prioritize Aden. Reuters reported that Houthi forces were left in control of the coastal positions, a description the forces’ statement did not make. Separately on Sunday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed a Saudi reconnaissance aircraft was downed over Al-Jawf; the reports concern different fronts.

What is confirmed

In its statement on the Bab al-Mandab withdrawal, the Southern Armed Forces said Sunday it was redeploying troops from Dhubab Airport and the Bab al-Mandab area west of Taiz governorate. The statement described the move as a redeployment and said its priorities were securing Aden and neighboring governorates, strengthening front lines and addressing security threats. It did not list unit names, troop totals, an exact departure time, a route or the destination of each unit.

The Southern Armed Forces’ announcement, which SANA also reported, is the primary account of the redeployment rationale. The National, Reuters and Türkiye Today reported that troops left the area, but their territorial descriptions go beyond the force’s statement: Reuters said the Houthis were left in control, The National described a ceding of control, and Türkiye Today said Houthi forces took the coastal position.

Those are attributed territorial claims, not an independently verified map of each post. The reports read did not describe reporters observing Houthi units enter Dhubab Airport or the vacated positions, and the Southern Armed Forces statement did not say which force occupied them afterward. The sources also gave no troop count, casualty figure or equipment loss tied specifically to the redeployment.

Al Jazeera reported a separate Sunday claim by Houthi spokesman Saree: he said the group had shot down a Saudi reconnaissance aircraft over Al-Jawf. The Houthi account described the aircraft as conducting hostile operations in the area. None of the reports connected that claim to the Bab al-Mandab withdrawal, and the aircraft claim was not independently verified in the sources reviewed.

What the parties said

The Southern Armed Forces explained its move in a statement quoted by The National: “This step is taken based on the priority of securing the capital, Aden, and the neighbouring governorates, as well as strengthening the front lines and addressing existing threats.” The wording sets out the force’s stated rationale; it does not say that Houthi forces took over its former positions. The statement also referred to redeployment, rather than describing a battlefield transfer.

Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Col. Majid al-Nuzaili, in a statement reported by SANA, called “liberating the Bab al-Mandab area and the western coast” an “inherent right of the armed forces.” This is a government-side position on the same area, not independent confirmation of who occupies the posts.

On the Houthi side, Al Jazeera reported Saree’s claim that the group had downed a Saudi armed reconnaissance aircraft over Al-Jawf. Saree described its activity as “hostile operations in the airspace of al-Jawf” and said Yemeni-made surface-to-air missiles had helped “repel a number of Saudi military formations.” Those statements concern a separate air operation, not the coastal redeployment. The reports read contained no Houthi statement responding to the Southern Armed Forces’ withdrawal announcement and no Saudi response to the aircraft claim.

The official statements do not include a Houthi response to the redeployment, and the Houthi aircraft claim is separate; no source read linked the two.

How the coverage splits

The National headlines the move as a pullback that “hands Houthis greater leverage” over Bab al-Mandab. It calls the departing troops “Southern Yemeni forces” and the Houthis “Iran-backed Houthi rebels,” foregrounding control and shipping significance alongside the Taiz siege. It does not provide on-site verification of who occupied each post or a Houthi response. The National is not a military channel or combatant, but its publisher Abu Dhabi Media is government-owned; that state connection matters because Türkiye Today identifies the Southern Armed Forces as affiliated with the UAE-backed STC.

Türkiye Today uses “abandon” and “Houthis take control” in its headline. It identifies the Southern Armed Forces as affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council and describes the opposing force as Iran-backed. Its report foregrounds the stated security priority of Aden and the move away from the western coast, then adds earlier claims about control of the same area. It does not show independent field verification or include a Houthi response to this redeployment. Türkiye Today is not itself a party or official military channel.

Reuters, in a dispatch carried by NBC News, leads with government forces withdrawing and Houthis in control. It labels the departing troops as fighting for Yemen’s internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government and calls the Houthis Iran-aligned. The wire report foregrounds the strategic shipping route and the reported shift in control, while quoting the Southern Armed Forces’ statement; it does not include a Houthi response or independent on-site confirmation. The NBC page credits Reuters, rather than presenting a separate NBC field report. Neither Reuters nor NBC is a party to the conflict or an official military channel.

The record so far

The Sunday record is a Southern Armed Forces announcement of redeployment from Dhubab Airport and the Bab al-Mandab area, its stated priority of securing Aden, and a separate Houthi claim that a Saudi reconnaissance aircraft was downed over Al-Jawf. The Bab al-Mandab withdrawal is reported by Reuters, The National and Türkiye Today as leaving Houthi forces in control, but the available reports do not verify control post by post.

Türkiye Today reported that government-aligned forces claimed to retake Dhubab Airport and nearby Bab al-Mandab positions on Oct. 5. That claim is not a current ground survey. GenZ NewZ’s earlier Taiz market report and Sanaa airstrikes report covered different incidents and competing accounts. They do not verify who currently holds the coastal positions.