By Lyn Neeley
August 28, 2026

Aug. 24 — For over a month, tensions have been escalating between the Ansarullah movement (also called the Houthis) that governs the west of Yemen on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-backed Yemen International Recognized Government (IRG) on the other.

Al Jazeera reported Aug. 20 that the Yemen IRG carried out 81 attacks in one day on Ansarullah positions across Yemen. Saudi drones violated air space over Saada Province. The Saudi military is maintaining control over airspace and Red Sea entry points to obstruct supply lines to Ansarullah.

In response, Ansarullah forces attacked Saudi Arabia’s Najran Province next to Yemen on the Red Sea. They hit the airport and the strategic Aramco oil facility in Najran.

Hamid Asim, deputy governor of Yemen’s capital Sana’a, which is administered by Ansarullah, “accused Riyadh [capital of Saudi Arabia] of starting the escalation by bombing the Sana’a airport. The bombing prevented ailing civilians from travelling abroad for treatment.”

Asim also accused Riyadh of “massing fighters, vehicles and weapons on the outskirts of the capital, Sana’a.” (Al Jazeera, Aug. 18, 2026) The strikes, which happened on July 13, damaged the runway and prevented the landing of a delegation returning from the funeral of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was murdered by U.S.-Israeli forces on Feb. 28 to begin their aggression against Iran.

Following Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia spent months moving their oil to facilities on the Red Sea coast. This was done with the intention of exporting their oil out through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the connection between the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal.

However, since the Sana’a International Airport attack, Ansarullah forces have blocked Saudi vessels from passing through Bab al-Mandab and banned Saudi vessels from traveling in the Red Sea.

These Yemeni statements and missile strikes have severely disrupted Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea oil exports. Many Saudi oil tankers have been forced to turn around, avoid the Bab al-Mandab Strait or take the long detour around the continent of Africa.

Following Saudi attacks on Houthi telecommunication facilities and civilian areas, on July 25 Ansarullah drones and missiles struck Yanbu, a main port for Saudi oil export, and set the Jazan refinery on fire. These anti-imperialist forces in Yemen say they will continue attacking both facilities until Saudi Arabia reopens roads across Yemen and lifts restrictions at Yemen’s Sana’a International Airport.

Ansarullah and Yemen’s popular movement

In 2014 widespread public anger grew in Yemen against the corrupt government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi who cut fuel subsidies, causing fuel prices to nearly double. Much of the money from the subsidies went to wealthy elites inside and outside of Yemen through fuel smuggling networks and offshore accounts.

This followed corruption and theft by the previous president of 33 years, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stole from $32 billion to $60 billion during his time in office. Saleh siphoned off vital economic resources from the country and left millions of Yemenis in extreme poverty, with over half the population in destitution. As a result, Yemen is widely considered the poorest country in the Middle East.

Back in February 2015, the Ansarullah movement led a popular uprising and military takeover of Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, and forced the resignation of Hadi. They took control of northwestern and western Yemen, including key coastal areas on the Red Sea. They took one-third of the country’s land, which holds 70%-80% of Yemen’s population (estimated between 32 million and 40 million people).

Yemen’s role in the anti-imperialist resistance

As the International Action Center reported in a March 18, 2025, article, since the Hamas-led Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7, 2023: “The Ansarullah movement has targeted ships carrying goods to and from Israel in the Red Sea and vowed not to stop until the siege of Gaza is lifted and humanitarian aid is allowed in. This movement has organized protests of millions of people throughout Yemen in solidarity with Palestine and its allies worldwide. …

“As punishment for its solidarity, U.S. and British imperialism sent fighter jets to viciously bomb residential neighborhoods near Yemen’s capital of Sana’a on March 15, [2025], resulting in the deaths and injuries of civilians, including children.” (https://iacenter.org/2025/03/19/stop-imperialist-aggression-on-yemen/)