Aden (South24 Center)

Weekly monitoring by South24 Center for News and Studies recorded 170 people killed and 154 wounded in military and security incidents between September 19 and October 2, 2026, amid fighting along the Lahj–Taiz border, continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and airstrikes on Houthi-held areas, culminating in the interception of drones over the capital, Aden.

The Center recorded 141 incidents during the period, including 133 military incidents and eight security incidents. Taiz and Lahj accounted for the largest numbers, with 39 and 33 incidents respectively.

The casualty figures are based on numbers announced by the parties to the conflict and do not represent a comprehensive toll. They exclude aggregate statements by the warring parties reporting hundreds or thousands of fighters killed or wounded, including a Yemeni Defense Ministry claim that more than 3,000 Houthis were killed or wounded over three days.

Under the monitoring report’s classification, 42 members of Southern forces and tribal fighters grouped with them were killed and 25 wounded. Government forces and their allies sustained 29 deaths and eight injuries. The latter category includes five Emergency Forces soldiers wounded in an improvised explosive device blast in Al-Abr, Hadramout.

The monitoring recorded 81 deaths and 62 injuries in the Houthi category, based on source accounts and military statements included in the report. This category includes four people whom the Yemeni Defense Ministry identified as Iranian experts specializing in drone and missile operations who were killed in Taiz.

It also recorded 10 civilians killed and 19 wounded, along with eight deaths and 40 injuries among people whose civilian or military status remained undetermined.

Fighting centered on the Al-Modaribah, Ras Al-Arah and Kahboub fronts and areas bordering Al-Wazi’iyah. Military sources reported that Southern forces, including the Southern Giants Brigades and Nation Shield forces, supported by tribal fighters, took positions in Jabal Numan, Al-Aghabarah and Jabal Al-Bazlah and repelled Houthi attacks and infiltration attempts.

Fighting continued on these fronts in the final days of September and early October. In the latest update covered by the monitoring, sources reported that around 17 members of Southern forces and tribal fighters were killed on the Al-Modaribah fronts between September 28 and October 1.

On September 29, four soldiers were killed and six wounded when a Houthi ballistic missile struck one of the Nation Shield brigades in Khur Amayrah on the Lahj coast, according to a military source. The following day, an officer in the Southern forces was killed by shrapnel from a Houthi mortar round on the Kirsh front.

Clashes also extended to the Yafa and Al-Dhalea fronts and Shabwa’s border with Al-Bayda, where Southern forces reported repelling attacks, downing drones and targeting Houthi reinforcements with artillery.

In Taiz, fighting and airstrikes hit the Jabal Habashi, Maqbanah, Hayfan and Al-Aqroud fronts. Pro-government forces said they killed 30 Houthis and wounded 50 on the Al-Aqroud front in Al-Misrakh District on October 1. Local sources reported that Major General Mohammed Al-Khawlani, chief of staff of the Interior Ministry’s Emergency Forces, was killed in fighting on the Al-Kadhah front the same day.

The fighting also disrupted the Taiz–Aden road. Field sources reported that travel along the route was halted on October 1 after Houthi fighters infiltrated the lower section of Hayjat Al-Abd and blew up a major drainage culvert.

Ground fighting coincided with airstrikes on Houthi positions, reinforcements and weapons depots in Taiz, Marib, Al-Bayda and other areas. Yemeni military spokesperson Al-Nuzaili said on October 2 that the Yemeni Air Force had carried out 13 strikes on Houthi positions in Taiz, destroying a tank and military vehicles.

In a September 27 statement, the Yemeni Defense Ministry said it had conducted 701 targeting operations over 72 hours, killing or wounding 3,316 Houthis. The following day, it reported 476 Houthi fighters killed or wounded in operations across multiple fronts. The monitoring does not provide independent verification of these figures.

As the escalation with Saudi Arabia continued, the Houthis announced on September 19 that they had targeted sites they described as sensitive in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones. They said the attacks were in response to Saudi attempts to strike Sanaa.

Saudi authorities announced the interception of a ballistic missile heading toward Riyadh on September 20, six missiles toward Taif and Yanbu on September 24, and two drones toward the Riyadh region two days later. On October 2, Saudi military spokesperson Al-Maliki said air defenses had destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launched toward Khamis Mushait in the Asir region.

The monitoring also recorded a reported Houthi drone attack on an electricity distribution station in Medina on September 29, which took one transformer out of service without affecting the power grid. The Houthis later denied carrying out the attack.

Houthi media, meanwhile, attributed airstrikes and missile and artillery bombardments in Saada, Taiz, Al-Jawf, Hajjah and Hodeidah to Saudi forces. The Houthi military spokesperson said Saudi aircraft conducted 38 airstrikes on September 28 and 35 the following day across several governorates.

On September 25, the Houthis claimed that an operation in Jizan had killed or wounded hundreds of Emergency Forces personnel, including Sudanese nationals, as well as dozens of Saudi military personnel. The monitoring contained no independent confirmation or detailed figures for this account, which was excluded from the casualty total.

Civilian casualties included three people killed and four wounded on September 23 when two Houthi ballistic missiles struck Amr ibn Al-As School in Al-Mulabbiyah, according to Lahj local authorities. The school was sheltering dozens of displaced families.

In eastern Taiz, Houthi media reported seven people killed and 40 wounded in airstrikes it attributed to Saudi Arabia on a market at the Mawiyah junction on September 27. Pro-government forces said the strikes targeted a Houthi camp, vehicles and positions in the area and Al-Hawban.

By October 2, drone attacks had extended to Aden. The monitoring reported that Southern air defenses shot down Houthi suicide drones over Madinat Al-Shaab, where Saudi forces are headquartered, with no casualties reported by local authorities. In a statement, local authorities said most of the drones had been intercepted and damage was limited to buildings. The attack coincided with continued airstrikes on Houthi positions in Taiz, Ibb and Sanaa, and the interception by Saudi air defenses of a Houthi missile heading toward Khamis Mushait.

The military developments point to a widening escalation in Yemen and with Saudi Arabia, amid Western reports of a planned military operation by Saudi Arabia and local Yemeni forces against the Houthis, coinciding with the arrival of Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council member Abdulrahman Al-Muharrami in the capital, Aden.

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