Nearly 50,000 Yemeni civilians flee as Houthis advance along Red Sea coast

Nearly 50,000 people have fled a sudden advance by Houthi forces in western Yemen, with entire villages emptied and families trapped near the frontline as food supplies dwindle, according to aid workers. The United Nations International Organization for Migration said 46,000 people had been displaced across the governates of Taiz and Hodeidah — for many, their second or third time forced from their homes.

The displacement is the human cost of a widening struggle over the Bab al-Mandab strait, one of the world’s most important shipping routes. The Iran-backed Houthis seized a string of towns along the Red Sea coast this week from forces aligned with the US- and Saudi-backed government, with hundreds reported killed and fears growing of a return to the full-scale civil war that killed 150,000 people.

What to watch now is whether the advance continues and whether aid groups can reach the displaced, who urgently need shelter, food, water and healthcare. Aid workers described the situation as highly fluid, with roads cut and phone lines down in some areas as territorial control shifts rapidly.