Monthly Briefing/ October– 2025

October saw significant escalation in Taiz, Al-Dhalea and Al-Jawf, including targeted strikes against Houthi leaders, drug-trafficking convictions, Al-Qaeda attacks in Abyan and the construction of an airstrip on Zuqar Island, in the Red Sea, without government oversight. The Houthis intensified attacks on educational, religious and UN institutions, aiming to militarize civilian life and consolidate control. The security landscape also witnessed terrorist attacks and sporadic assaults in several governorates.

• 9 October: The Houthis deployed large military reinforcements and established positions in Maywa District east of Taiz and on the outskirts of Al-Dhalea, causing dozens of families from Baher and surrounding areas to flee, signaling a potential resumption of confrontations.
• 16 October: Houthi Chief of the General Staff Major General Mohammad Abdelkarim Al-Ghamari died from a prior injury, reportedly from an Israeli airstrike on Sana’a, marking the group’s largest military and civilian loss.
• 19 October: The Taiz military axis monitored unusual Houthi movements on the northeastern front and raised readiness amid intermittent shelling, sniper fire and clashes, with no official report on casualties.
• 22 October: Brigadier Adnan Razaq, commander of the 5th Presidential Guard Brigade, was injured by a roadside bomb west of Taiz; two of his escorts were killed and others were wounded. The government accused the Houthis for carrying out the attack.

• 22 October: The Criminal Court in Hadhramaut sentenced six Iranians to death for smuggling nearly three tons of drugs into Yemen via a boat.

• 22 October: Al-Qaeda carried out a double-suicide car bombing on the government complex in Al-Mahfad district, Abyan Governorate, which was an STC base, killing four soldiers, wounding eight and killing six militants.

• 22 October: The army repelled a Houthi attack on positions east of Al-Jawf’s Al-Hazm city, with confirmed casualties among the attackers and the rest fleeing.

• 25 October: Terrorists ambushed Brigadier General Abdu Abdullah Al-Mukhlafi, commander of the 22nd Infantry Brigade, on the Ma’rib-Hadhramaut road, injuring him and killing one of his escorts; the armed forces continue pursuing the perpetrators to combat terrorism and protect national security.
• 28 October: Brigadier General Salah Al-Salahi, commander of the 10th Samad Brigade in the Houthis, defected to the national army, rejecting the group’s racist practices; the government welcomed his joining.

• 28 October: Satellite images revealed a new 2,000-meter airstrip on Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, built with UAE support without prior coordination with the Yemeni government.

• 28 October: Under Houthi control in Sana’a, the University of Science and Technology handed over the College of Administrative Sciences building to the Ministry of Defense, reflecting a deliberate policy to militarize education and convert academic institutions into military facilities.

• 28 October: Yemeni Defense Minister General Mohsen Al-Daari emphasized that the strengthening cooperation with Somalia will help to combat smuggling and secure navigation in the Arabian Sea, and Al-Daari praised historical bilateral ties.

October saw notable economic activity despite security and political challenges, with increased governmental and international efforts to support financial stability and boost investment in key sectors, such as energy, transportation and aviation. Developments included Central Bank-led financial reforms in Aden, external cooperation projects to improve infrastructure, and international initiatives to strengthen the national economy and prepare it for recovery and reconstruction.

• 24 October: The Yemeni government discussed, with the World Trade Organization, ways to support economic recovery and reconstruction through trade-policy cooperation, capacity building, improving the business environment, facilitating market integration, enhancing sector competitiveness, attracting foreign investment and implementing modern regulatory reforms, including customs digitization and simplified licensing and fees.
• 25 October: The Russian ambassador to Yemen announced the exchange of engineering documents to develop the Al-Haswa thermoelectric plant in Aden, within a technical cooperation framework aimed at increasing production capacity, improving reliability, reducing generation costs, alleviating electricity shortages and stimulating economic, service and industrial activity linked to energy.
• 26 October: The United Kingdom urged the Central Bank of Yemen to continue core economic reforms to ensure resilience and sustainable growth, praising relative currency stability and calling for improved governance, enhanced transparency, and expanded non-oil revenues to support domestic and international confidence and prepare for broader financing and development partnerships.
• 27 October: The Ministry of Transport inaugurated the first flights of Aden Private Airlines on the Aden-Cairo route, as part of an open-skies policy to encourage investment in civil aviation, reduce travel burdens for citizens, expand air transport options, and strengthen Yemen’s regional connectivity, through Aden International Airport, as a central hub.
• 29 October: The Central Bank of Yemen in Aden warned against illegal actions affecting bank-owned properties in Sana’a after the Houthis announced an auction of about 123 plots in the Asr area, stating such measures are invalid, undermine confidence in the banking sector, threaten depositors’ rights, and the Central Bank called for immediate protection of the financial system and monetary stability.

October saw a sharp increase in human rights violations in Houthi-controlled areas, including arrests, executions, targeting of journalists, teachers and detainees, with local and international reports documenting the crimes and calling for an independent international investigation.

• 8 October: The Yemeni Teachers’ Syndicate accused the Houthis of kidnapping more than 350 teachers and withholding salaries from tens of thousands for nine years, calling for regular payment and improved conditions for educational staff.
• 9 October: The Media Freedoms Observatory reported that the Southern Transitional Council and the Houthis committed 78.5% of violations against journalists, warning of their increase at checkpoints and urging the protection of media freedom in Yemen.
• 10 October: SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties (samrl.org) stated that the Houthis have carried out more than 550 death sentences since 2014, mostly for political and sectarian reasons, using executions to intimidate society and silence opponents.
• 19 October: The “Masam” demining project reported the removal of over a half-million Houthi-planted mines since 2018, including 815 in October alone, noting that mines have killed around ten thousand civilians over the past decade.
• 20 October: Human rights lawyer Abdul Majid Sabra, representing detained journalists, contacted his brother from solitary confinement in Sana’a for the first time since his abduction, urging the Yemeni Lawyers’ Syndicate to intervene. His family held the Houthis responsible for his safety.
• 23 October: Forces loyal to Presidential Leadership Council Member Tariq Saleh abducted journalist Abdu Makabbab in front of the passport office in Mokha and took him to an unknown location, raising concerns about secret prisons on the western coast.
• 24 October: The Yemeni government condemned the Houthis’ drone attack on two ambulances in Al-Dhalea, which killed paramedic Ahmed Mohsen Al-Jabily and injured others, calling it a war crime.
• 22 October: Capital Media Center documented 1,671 violations committed by the Houthis in Sana’a during September, including murders, kidnappings and looting.
• 26 October: The National Authority for Detainees condemned Houthi-issued death and prison sentences against dozens from Saada, calling for an impartial international investigation.
• 28 October: The Yemeni Network for Rights and Liberties reported 5,423 violations by the Houthis against healthcare facilities and workers between 2017 and 2024, including murders, kidnappings, looting of medicines and hospital bombings.
• 28 October: The Yemeni Network for Rights and Liberties reported that Houthi mines killed 64 civilians and injured 83 in Hodeidah between January 2025 and August 2025, urging the UN to pressure the group to hand over their mine maps.
• 28 October: The Abductees’ Mothers Association documented 192 abductions in Ibb amid the anniversary of the 26 September revolution, calling on the UN for urgent action.
• 28 October: The Houthis released artist Intisar Al-Hammadi after nearly five years in detention on charges of “violating public morals,” a move welcomed by human rights and media circles.
• 28 October: The Houthis launched a raid and mass abductions in Dhamar targeting former officials, academics, teachers, and businessmen, detaining over 55 people. The Masawat Organization for Human Rights condemned the campaign and demanded the immediate release of around 80 detainees.
• 28 October: Armed Houthis stormed the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Sana’a, detained three guards for several hours before releasing them, and seized devices and equipment, violating the immunity of UN missions according to UN officials.

October saw unprecedented escalation by the Houthis against UN staff, worsening an already-dire humanitarian crisis, amid international warnings of rising hunger, collapsing relief programs as well as accusations that the Houthis were politicizing aid and extorting international organizations.

• 16 October: Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi accused UN staff, including the safety and security officer of the World Food Program, of spying against the group, while 53 UN staff members remained detained.
• 18 October: The Houthis stormed a UN residential compound in Sana’a, looted its contents and interrogated staff, marking a serious escalation against UN missions.
• 18 October: UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Houthi accusations of spying against UN staff, strongly rejecting the claims and calling them a serious threat to humanitarian workers in Yemen.
• 19 October: The Houthis detained 20 UN staff, including five Yemenis, in a Sana’a residential compound after raiding it and looting its contents. Eleven were later released following investigations.
• 24 October: A report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed that 8,878 African migrants, mostly from Somalia and Djibouti, arrived in Yemen in September 2025, which is a 27% increase from August, via the coasts of Abyan, Shabwa and Taiz.
• 25 October: The Houthis abducted World Food Programme (WFP) staff member Hanan Al-Shaibani from her home in Sana’a despite her critical health after childbirth and the loss of her baby, raising the number of detained UN staff to 55.
• 27 October: The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced that urgent funding needs to continue supporting 60,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Yemen, warning that lack of funding could result in significant human losses.
• 28 October: UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern over Houthi accusations against UN staff, calling for the immediate release of detainees and ensuring their safety.
• 28 October: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that Yemen’s food insecurity crisis would continue until February 2026, with over 18 million people suffering from severe hunger due to economic, climatic and conflict-related crises.