Ansar Allah hit the Aden HQ of Saudi-aligned forces in Yemen while denying they’d fired on Medina. The siege of Taiz continues. CENTCOM continued to claim control of Hormuz as ship attacks hit new highs.
Saudi HQ in Yemen Takes a Hit
Ansar Allah Telegram claimed credit for hitting a war operations headquarters run by Saudi officers in al-Maashiq Palace, Aden, and its weapons depots and killing and wounding numerous Saudi officers.
Reuters confirmed a few hours later, citing what they call the Yemeni government, which refers to the Aden-based, Saudi-dominated opposition to Ansar Allah:
Yemen’s Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden on Thursday, killing five people, the government said…
The attack was the first in the current conflict between the Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi Arabia on Aden’s Al-Maashiq palace, the seat of Yemen’s Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government.
Yemen’s prime minister and cabinet members were safe following the attack, Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said. Witnesses told Reuters they heard loud booms near the palace. Yemen’s cabinet said the attack involved missiles and drones.
Yemen’s health minister Qasim Buhaibeh said five people were killed and 16 wounded in what he described as a Houthi attack on the government’s official headquarters at the presidential complex. The casualties included guards and civilian employees.
Earlier on Thursday, a local security official told Xinhua that five missiles struck the presidential palace compound, while another attack targeted the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces in Aden’s Al Buraiqa district.
Loud explosions rocked Aden during the strikes, with smoke rising from the vicinity of the presidential palace, according to a Xinhua reporter on the ground.
Local sources told Xinhua that “high-level meetings” had recently been held at the compound to prepare Saudi-backed government forces for fighting the Houthis.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the group targeted the “Saudi military operations headquarters” in Aden, without specifying its exact location.
Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, citing a Houthi military leader, later said Saudi military officers were killed or wounded in an attack targeting a “military operations headquarters run by Saudi officers” inside the presidential palace compound in Aden.
The Blame Game
Ansar Allah reacted to international outrage at their attacks on Saudi airports by pointing out that what the Saudi spokesman recounted, Saudi Arabia has done “many times over” to Yemen for 12 years, with more than 274,302 airstrikes, and more than 2,350 airstrikes and missiles on Yemen since the escalation resumed in early September.
Ansar Allah later said the Saudis launched 65 airstrikes and missiles in the last 24 hours, raising the total since early September to 2,388.
Their Health Ministry released figures saying 120 were killed and 307 wounded in the Saudi escalation since September 3, with 60% of the casualties being women and children.
Meanwhile, France has begun deploying “military means” to defend Saudi oil infrastructure per Arab News, but no details were provided on what those consist of.
The NYT attempts to explain why Ansar Allah is having so much offensive success despite the Saudi’s vast military budget:
The problem in part is that Saudi Arabia invested heavily in weapons having what some military analysts call a “glitter factor” — things like high-tech fighter jets and the latest missile interceptors. But the Houthi guerrillas often deploy cheap drones or low-flying cruise missiles that Saudi forces struggle to detect.
In addition, Saudi defenses were built assuming that the biggest threat would come from the east or northeast, from Iran or Iraq, not from Yemen to the southwest. So the country was left somewhat exposed, analysts said.
Finally, the kingdom only recently started to address longstanding systemic problems. To inoculate the Saud dynasty against the military coups that plagued most Arab states, the military was built as two competing branches. Each suffers from highly centralized decision-making, which limits flexibility, analysts said.
“It’s a hugely rattling moment for Riyadh, humiliating on a number of fronts,” said Burcu Ozcelik, an expert on Middle East security issues at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense research organization in London.
In 2015, Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, then defense minister, ignited the war against the Houthis, a Shiite Muslim millenarian sect seeking to unseat the Yemeni government. Routing them would take weeks, said Prince Mohammed, who became crown prince in 2017 and is now Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.
Instead the war became a quagmire. The United Nations brokered a cease-fire in 2022, but the conflict flared anew amid tensions over the United States and Israel attacking Iran.
…the fight against the Houthis is asymmetrical. Using a Patriot missile bought for over $3 million to shoot down a drone costing $15,000 to $25,000 is akin to trying to swat a mosquito with a hammer, analysts said.
Muhammad bin Salman started this and time will tell if it finishes him.
The Ground War
The Ansar Allah-appointed Taiz governor Ahmed al-Masawa offered Saudi-aligned gunmen in Taiz city safe exit with personal weapons via the Najd Qasim – al-Turbah – Aden road. The Ansar Allah Foreign Ministry asserts that all main roads to and from Taiz city are open and secured by the Sanaa government for civilians, food, medicine and fuel.
Drop Site has an important post from the perspective of the ordinary citizens trapped in Taiz:
Ansarallah now controls all entry points to Taiz, tightening a siege on Yemen’s third largest city and causing skyrocketing fuel prices, food shortages, and panic among residents.
…
Taiz governorate consists of 23 districts, 20 of which are now under Ansarallah control. Only three districts remain under control by the internationally recognized government—the three that comprise Taiz city itself.Ansarallah now controls all entry points to Taiz city. These entrances have turned into active frontlines with only brief pauses in fighting. Drivers are forced to wait for the short lulls—which usually last no more than a few hours a day—to enter or leave the city.
The continuous fighting has sparked widespread terror among residents, who fear the conflict could reach their homes at any moment. The road blockades have also had severe economic consequences: fuel and basic commodities can no longer enter regularly, driving prices up to three times their normal cost for essential items like fuel.
While some food trucks have managed to enter the city in recent weeks, supply has fallen far short of demand, with residents scrambling to stock up on supplies as the fighting rages on the outskirts.
…
At the beginning of October, Ansarallah launched another major offensive against government forces in southern and western Taiz governorate. By October 4, they had made significant advances, seizing the main road linking Taiz city to the governorate’s southern and western areas, as well as to Lahj governorate.
…
Streets in Taiz city that used to be crowded late into the night are now largely deserted. As a result of the road closures into the city, the price of fuel has nearly tripled, with 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of petrol rising from 30,000 Yemeni riyals (around $19) to 90,000 riyals (around $57). Few cars and buses move through the streets by day, and almost none at night due to the security risks.
…
Taiz has been a major frontline between Ansarallah and government forces since 2015—when street battles in the city left civilians dead and injured. It endured a brutal, yearslong siege until a UN-brokered truce in 2022. That truce held across much of the country, including Taiz, until last month.
The Hotly Contested Hormuz Strait
Centcom is pulling rank:
Three FALSE Iranian claims in the past 24 hours:
🚫 CLAIM: The IRGC has continued to falsely claim control of the Strait of Hormuz.
✅ FACT: The United States and regional partners control the strait as commercial vessels continue to transit despite unwarranted IRGC aggression.
🚫 CLAIM: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed a Singapore-flagged container ship struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. This is FALSE.
✅ FACT: The civilian container ship M/V GFS Pride was hit by an IRGC projectile. The vessel sank while being towed to shore. Despite the attack, commercial ships continue to flow through the Strait of Hormuz (whose primary routes remain clear of mines), with more than 40 ships moving in the last 24 hours.
🚫 CLAIM: The IRGC claims they killed hundreds of U.S. service members in Jordan. This is FALSE.
✅ FACT: Three American service members were killed in action in July as partner forces defended against Iranian attacks. We honor the memories of all U.S. service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice and represent America’s best.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) October 15, 2026
But even gCaptain can’t back their play:
U.S. Central Command says the United States and its regional partners control the Strait of Hormuz, citing more than 40 commercial ships moving through the waterway in the past 24 hours, even as maritime security officials warn that attacks on merchant vessels are increasing and the threat to shipping remains severe.
The statement Thursday came as the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) released a new assessment documenting a series of attacks on commercial shipping, including the sinking of a containership, and warning that further strikes remain highly likely.
But the military’s assertion of control comes against a markedly different picture of commercial shipping conditions. Traffic remains far below prewar levels, vessels continue to face attacks along established transit routes, and Iran is still attempting to influence how ships move through the strait.
Iranian Hits on Gulf Infrastructure Much Worse Than Admitted
Reuters has a big feature entitled, “Iran’s precision strikes picked apart Gulf infrastructure, blunting US war plans.”
Iran’s missiles and drones have hit Gulf infrastructure sites at least 135 times, causing cascading failures that Gulf states have often concealed. Despite repeated official statements that the damage came from debris, Reuters found the equipment struck was, time and again, exactly what mattered most.
ran and its proxies have carried out dozens of pinpoint strikes on infrastructure in the Gulf since the start of the war, systematically disabling critical equipment and causing cascading failures and economic damage region-wide in a deft campaign that helps explain how the Islamic Republic has held its own against the more powerful US military.
Iran and the allies it arms went after vital oil-routing systems at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, the main port outside the Strait of Hormuz, disabling operations for weeks. They hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, striking two of the “cold boxes” that house cooling equipment that liquefies gas. They targeted airports across at least four countries, this month striking one in Saudi Arabia four days in a single week. And they incinerated a pumping station and damaged two others along a key Saudi pipeline, cutting off another main bypass around Iran’s blockade of Hormuz.
The whole article is highly recommended. It’s fascinating how the claims of the US and aligned militaries so often require correction weeks or months later.
And while we’re discussing dubious claims, I have to share something I’ve been putting together all week.
Don’t Believe Their Lies
I’ve tried to be fair and balanced, like I was working for Rupert Murdoch, but I feel the need to bludgeon everyone over the head with the contrast between the claims made by the Saudis and their aligned media and the consensus reality that emerges in the ensuing days. So here’s a table of greatest hits:
| Claim | What Riyadh said | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Mocha 5 Oct 2026 |
Yemeni military statement / Saudi-aligned military spokesman: “Giants, Nation’s Shield and Tihama brigades took Bab al-Mandab and Mokha; Mokha captured on Monday afternoon with Saudi air support” (Arab News, 5 Oct; BBC, 5 Oct) | The same day, Saudi-aligned military sources told AFP their forces were besieging Mocha but had not retaken it, and Ansar Allah’s deputy Taiz governor Fuad Sinan filmed himself in the city’s streets. Officials on the ground told Reuters on 7 Oct the claim “had been premature”; Al Jazeera Arabic (11 Oct) says Ansar Allah has held Mocha since 10 Sept, and CTP-ISW says Saudi-aligned forces have not advanced north of Dhubab airport, 54 km south-east of Mocha, since 5 Oct. (AFP via Hindustan Times, 5 Oct; Middle East Eye, 5 Oct; Reuters, 7 Oct; CTP-ISW, 6 Oct; Al Jazeera Arabic, 11 Oct; CTP-ISW, 11 Oct) |
| Taiz 5 Oct 2026 |
Saudi-aligned military spokesman: “Hundreds of Houthis surrounded in Dhubab were called on to surrender” (Arab News, 5 Oct) | Saudi-aligned forces did take Dhubab airport on 5 Oct, but no surrender in Dhubab was reported: on 9 Oct Asharq Al-Awsat’s military sources still listed Dhubab as a “next target” and spoke of operations to “tighten the encirclement of Dhubab”. CTP-ISW reports no Saudi-aligned advance beyond the airport since 5 Oct, and on 14 Oct Ansar Allah released footage of Saudi-aligned formations being expelled from the Dhubab airport area. (partly contradicted) (Asharq Al-Awsat, 9 Oct; CTP-ISW, 11 Oct; Yemeni Armed Forces (Telegram), 14 Oct) |
| Taiz 7 Oct 2026 |
Saudi-aligned Homeland Shield Brigades and 35th Armoured Brigade (via Al Jazeera’s Taiz correspondent): “Took Mount Mansoura, the highest peak of Jabal Habashi, and hills in al-Waziiya” (Al Jazeera live, 7 Oct) | On 9 Oct a Sanaa military source said Saudi-backed forces had been expelled from “all areas of Jabal Habashi District”; Ansar Allah released footage of clearing the district on 12 Oct, and CTP-ISW says geolocated footage shows Ansar Allah consolidated eastern Jabal Habashi before fully encircling Taiz City on 12 Oct. On 13 Oct a Saudi-aligned outlet said Saudi-aligned forces were “forced to evacuate” the Hanjar checkpoint under fire from Ansar Allah-held heights in Jabal Habashi. (Al Masirah, 9 Oct; Yemeni Armed Forces (Telegram), 12 Oct; CTP-ISW, 12 Oct; Khabar Agency, 13 Oct) |
| Taiz 12 Oct 2026 |
Saudi-aligned outlets and accounts (BashaReport, Al-Ayyam, ALyemennow): “”#FactCheck Claims that the Houthis have seized the Hangar checkpoint in western Taiz city are false.” / “Houthi lies have no limit. Video from Hanjar checkpoint in Taiz this evening, and no Houthis there”” (BashaReport (X), 12 Oct; Al-Ayyam, 12 Oct; ALyemennow (X), 13 Oct) | A Saudi-aligned military source told dpa on 13 Oct that Ansar Allah took the al-Hanjar checkpoint, the city’s western entrance, and Saudi-aligned outlets Khabar Agency and Al-Mashhad Al-Yemeni reported the same day that Saudi-aligned forces evacuated it, claiming they keep fire control from the hills. CTP-ISW called control of the checkpoint contested on 12-13 Oct. (partly contradicted) (Al-Shorouk (dpa), 14 Oct; Khabar Agency, 13 Oct; Al-Mashhad Al-Yemeni, 13 Oct; CTP-ISW, 13 Oct) |
| Aramco HQ 14 Oct 2026 |
Saudi Ministry of Energy: “An administrative building of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran was attacked, causing a limited fire; no injuries or deaths” (Reuters via Japan Times, 14 Oct; AP via Baltimore Sun, 13 Oct; Bloomberg, 13 Oct) | Three people with direct knowledge told Reuters the headquarters “suffered extensive damage”: the fire started on the ninth floor of the south wing, spread between the sixth and 10th floors and was still burning early Wednesday, and the top floors, including CEO Amin Nasser’s office, had part of the ceiling caved in and windows and doors blown out. Two regional officials told AP the top three floors were damaged, and Reuters on 15 Oct described the attack as “causing extensive damage.” (Reuters, 14 Oct; readable copy (Yahoo); AP, 14 Oct; Reuters, 15 Oct) |
| Aramco HQ 14 Oct 2026 |
Saudi-led coalition / spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki: “Fragments of a missile that it had intercepted and destroyed in Dhahran had fallen on a residential area; ballistic missiles at Dhahran stopped” (Reuters via Devdiscourse, 14 Oct; Arab News, 14 Oct) | A company source told Reuters a ballistic missile hit the Aramco headquarters complex and struck an office tower; two regional officials told AP Ansar Allah struck the building used by senior executives. Fortune reported it was unclear whether the building was hit directly or by falling debris. (partly contradicted) (Reuters via Devdiscourse, 14 Oct; AP, 14 Oct; Fortune, 14 Oct) |
| Intercepts 3 Oct 2026 |
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki: “”Houthi claims of targeting Riyadh today are misleading”” (RT Arabic, 3 Oct) | A Reuters witness saw a large plume of smoke and fire near Aramco’s Riyadh refinery, and an AFP journalist saw firefighters tackling the blaze; NASA FIRMS logged thermal detections there from about 05:00 UTC. Ansar Allah said it struck “the Aramco company” in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones; Saudi authorities and Aramco gave no cause for the fire. (partly contradicted) (Reuters via The New Arab, 3 Oct; AFP via The New Arab, 3 Oct; Türkiye Today (FIRMS), 3 Oct; Saba, 3 Oct) |
| Intercepts 6-7 Oct 2026 |
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki: “A ballistic missile launched toward Khamis Mushait “was intercepted and destroyed” (6 Oct); Saudi air defenses knocked down a ballistic missile north of Riyadh (7 Oct)” (SPA, 6 Oct; Arab News, 7 Oct) | Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority (GACA) then said attacks on Abha airport, next to Khamis Mushait, killed two and wounded 28, and attacks on King Khalid airport in Riyadh killed one and wounded eight. GACA did not say which weapons hit; Ansar Allah said it struck King Khalid with “several drones” and Abha with a ballistic missile. (partly contradicted) (Al Jazeera, 7 Oct; Reuters, 7 Oct; Gulf News, 7 Oct) |
| Intercepts 8 Oct 2026 |
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki; Saudi Civil Defense: “Two ballistic missiles toward Riyadh and one toward Khamis Mushait were intercepted and destroyed; Civil Defense teams responded to “debris from a ballistic missile after it was intercepted and destroyed”, which damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex” (Al Jazeera, 8 Oct; Anadolu, 8 Oct) | Reuters verified video of a thick column of smoke and flames at King Khalid airport, where a parked Saudia jet caught fire. GACA said the next day that two attacks hit the airport, the first striking airport facilities and the second a Saudia aircraft, and killed three Saudis, among them Saudia captain Hamoud bin Ali Alkalthami. (Reuters, 8 Oct; readable copy (Irish Times); Reuters, 9 Oct; Arab News, 9 Oct; MoloWarMonitor (X), 8 Oct) |
| Other 1 Oct 2026 |
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki: “A Houthi drone hit the Taibah power distribution station, which feeds the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, at 5:11 am on 29 Sept; drone wreckage confirms Houthi responsibility” (Al Jazeera, 1 Oct) | Ansar Allah denied the attack and called the charge a “lie”; Abdul-Malik al-Houthi called the Mecca and Medina targeting charge a “major lie”. Ansar Allah’s airspace warnings exclude Mecca and Medina, and no independent evidence on the strike’s origin was found. (partly contradicted) (Euronews, 2 Oct; Middle East Eye, 6 Oct) |
| Other 5 Oct 2026 |
Unnamed sources to Reuters and Bloomberg: “”Oil flows through Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline have not been interrupted”; Saudi East-West Oil Pipeline Is Said to Be Flowing as Normal” (Reuters via Devdiscourse, 5 Oct; Bloomberg, 5 Oct) | A Saudi energy-sector source told AFP a pumping station east of Riyadh in Khurais was hit on 4 Oct: “There was big damage, and the pipeline stopped again.” Sentinel-3 imagery showed smoke near an Aramco facility at Khurais on 4-5 Oct, and Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said a Bangladeshi worker was killed by a missile or drone at an Aramco facility in Al-Khurais. (partly contradicted) (AFP via Free Malaysia Today, 5 Oct; Misbar, 6 Oct; ANI, 5 Oct) |
| Other 5-9 Oct 2026 |
Yemeni military statement; Saudi ambassador Mohammed Al Jaber; Saudi-aligned military sources: “Mokha retaken and Red Sea waterway “secured” (5 Oct); “Bab Al-Mandab has been cleared of the remnants of the Houthi terrorist militia” (9 Oct); Giants and Nation Shield hold Bab al-Mandab and Mayyun Island (9 Oct)” (BBC, 5 Oct; Saudi Gazette, 9 Oct; Asharq Al-Awsat, 9 Oct) | On 10 Oct Saudi-aligned military sources told AFP their forces had not secured the strait and that Mayun (Perim) island was still held by Ansar Allah; on 12 Oct a Saudi-aligned commander told the BBC about 500 Ansar Allah fighters remain on high ground overlooking Bab al-Mandab, and Hizam al-Asad told AFP Ansar Allah holds the strait and Mayun. Ansar Allah said Saudi jets struck Mayun on 14 Oct, and CTP-ISW cites 14 Oct Ansar Allah footage of fighters at positions near the strait. (AFP via France 24, 10 Oct; BBC, 12 Oct; AFP via Aaj, 12 Oct; Yemeni Armed Forces (Telegram), 14 Oct; CTP-ISW, 14 Oct) |
| Other 7 Oct 2026 |
Saudi-aligned forces: “”Full control” of the Kahboub mountains (Lahj/Taiz), overlooking Bab al-Mandab” (Al Jazeera live, 7 Oct) | The National (14 Oct) reports the Kahboub mountains are contested. Saudi-aligned outlets report Ansar Allah attacks in al-Madaribah aimed at cutting supply lines to the Kahbub and Bab al-Mandab fronts, and YNP reports Giants and Nation’s Shield units pulled back from al-Saqiya and Ras al-Ara on 13 Oct. (partly contradicted) (The National, 14 Oct; Sky News Arabia (dpa), 12 Oct; YNP, 13 Oct) |
| Other 9 Oct 2026 |
Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA): “Airport operations have resumed and air traffic is back to normal” (Reuters, 9 Oct) | Flightradar24 showed traffic at King Khalid halted around 04:00 and again around 14:00 UTC that day and counted 132 flights cancelled there since dawn; flydubai and Pakistan International Airlines cancelled Riyadh flights the same day. (partly contradicted) (Al Masirah, 9 Oct; Al Masirah, 9 Oct; Gulf News, 9 Oct) |
| Other 12 Oct 2026 |
Saudi Media Minister Salman Al-Dossary: “”Life in the Kingdom is continuing as normal”” (Arab News Japan, 13 Oct) | King Khalid airport stayed shut, with the closure extended to 17 Oct, and Cirium counted more than 3,000 Saudi departures cancelled or not operating in a week. Riyadh schools moved online, finance firms told staff to work from home, and the Six Kings Slam and Saudi Pro League fixtures were postponed. (Reuters, 12 Oct; Travel Market Report, 13 Oct; AP, 14 Oct; Reuters, 14 Oct; Reuters, 15 Oct; Al Jazeera, 14 Oct; Al Jazeera (AFP), 14 Oct) |
Around the Tubes
Rifat Jawaid of Janta Ka Reporter waxes triumphant over Ansar Allah’s wins.
Jon Elmer of the Electronic Intifada with similar triumphalism but with more combat video and maps.
Stay safe y’all.
Follow and support my work at NatWilsonTurner.com.
