In the long and fractured story of Yemen's war, mid-September 2026 marks a moment of profound reversal: more than fifteen brigades of anti-Houthi forces collapsed in rapid succession, surrendering the entire western coast — including the port of Mocha — without a coherent defense. What was intended as a decisive push toward Sana'a became instead a rout, leaving at least 500 soldiers dead and a coalition of allies locked in a painful reckoning with betrayal, broken trust, and the question of whether a fractured cause can be made whole again.
Yemen's anti-Houthi forces probe catastrophic military collapse on west coast
At least 500 soldiers from the National Resistance Forces were killed in the collapse, with widespread displacement from the west coast.
The Houthis exploited the breakdown more than any decisive military superiority
Mark
So what actually happened on September 10? Was this a planned retreat or a sudden panic?
Mimi
The accounts differ sharply. The National Resistance Forces say they withdrew tactically after 500 casualties to avoid encirclement. But Abdu Mukabib, who was there, describes it as a sudden abandonment—fewer than 20 people left in the city by dawn.
Luke
And we have no way to verify which account is accurate from the reporting. Mukabib's Facebook post is documented, but the National Resistance Forces' casualty figures and their reasoning are their own claims.
Mark
The politicians are alleging bribery—billions of dollars to abandon positions. How credible is that?
Mimi
It's being said, but no one has identified the source of the money. The governor of Hadramaut made the claim without specifics. People are pointing at the UAE because of its past ties to Saleh's forces, but that's inference, not evidence.
Luke
Right. The UAE left Yemen in January, and there's documented tension between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. But connecting that to a bribery scheme requires proof we don't have yet. The inquest is ongoing.
Mark
What about the military side—was the anti-Houthi coalition just outmatched?
Mimi
Not exactly. The Giants Brigades actually repelled a Houthi advance and recaptured positions just before Mocha fell. But when the National Resistance units next to them withdrew, the whole line collapsed. It wasn't superior Houthi force; it was a breakdown in coordination.
Luke
And that's the key finding from al-Awaj at Taiz University—the Houthis didn't win through military superiority, they exploited the breakdown in trust and communication among the anti-Houthi forces. That's a different problem to solve than just sending more troops.
Mark
So what comes next? Can this be reversed?
Mimi
Both the Yemeni government and Saudi forces are reviewing the lessons now. The immediate target is the Kahbob mountains, which would give them leverage over Houthi movement toward the Bab al-Mandab strait.
Luke
But al-Awaj is clear: reinforcements alone won't work. They need unified command, rebuilt trust, and reorganization. That's a much slower process than military operations, and there's no guarantee it happens before the Houthis consolidate further.
El Pulso
- A military operation meant to end the war instead ended in total collapse — fifteen brigades routed within days, the west coast lost, and a port city abandoned by dawn with fewer than twenty defenders remaining.
- Allegations of mass bribery — billions of dollars allegedly offered to persuade forces to abandon their positions — have poisoned whatever trust remained among Yemen's anti-Houthi factions, with suspicion falling on the UAE.
- At least 500 soldiers from the National Resistance Forces were killed, tens of thousands displaced, and a Nobel laureate is now calling for a formal investigation into what many are calling a deliberate betrayal.
- The Houthis, sharpened by a decade of war and bolstered by Iranian intelligence and their own weapons infrastructure, exploited every fracture in the coalition's command structure with devastating precision.
- Anti-Houthi forces and Saudi commanders are urgently reassessing strategy, with attention now fixed on the Kahbob mountains as a potential foothold to prevent Houthi dominance over the Bab al-Mandab strait.
- Analysts warn that reinforcements alone cannot reverse the collapse — only a fundamental rebuilding of unified command and genuine trust among fractured allies offers any path back.
In the long and fractured story of Yemen's war, mid-September 2026 marks a moment of profound reversal: more than fifteen brigades of anti-Houthi forces collapsed in rapid succession, surrendering the entire western coast — including the port of Mocha — without a coherent defense. What was intended as a decisive push toward Sana'a became instead a rout, leaving at least 500 soldiers dead and a coalition of allies locked in a painful reckoning with betrayal, broken trust, and the question of whether a fractured cause can be made whole again.
What was meant to be a decisive assault on the Houthi-held capital of Sana'a became, by mid-September 2026, one of the most dramatic military reversals in Yemen's long war. More than fifteen brigades collapsed in rapid succession, and the country's entire west coast — including the strategic port of Mocha — fell into Houthi hands. The speed of the defeat has left Yemen's UN-recognised government and its allies in a bitter search for answers.
The unraveling began in the early hours of September 10, when forces withdrew from Mocha without warning. By the time Houthi fighters entered the city at dawn, fewer than twenty defenders remained. Hours earlier, the Houthis had already seized the headquarters of the National Resistance Forces on Jabal al-Nar — Fire Mountain — a fortified high-ground position meant to house six brigades and Saudi-supplied weaponry. Political activist Abdu Mukabib, writing from Mocha, called it not a tactical retreat but a cowardly abandonment. The National Resistance Forces, led by Tareq Saleh, cited 500 casualties and the threat of encirclement. Saleh has since announced a new formation, the Tihami Resistance, operating outside the national military structure.
The collapse has ignited accusations of corruption at a staggering scale. Senior Yemeni politicians, including the governor of Hadramaut, have alleged that billions of dollars were paid to persuade commanders to stand down. No source was formally identified, but suspicion has settled on the UAE, which withdrew from Yemen in January under Saudi pressure and was subsequently bitter over the outlawing of its allied Southern Transitional Council. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman has called for a full investigation.
Beyond any alleged bribery, military analysts identified deep structural failures: fractured command structures, misaligned Saudi and local priorities, and a coalition that could not hold together under pressure. The Giants Brigades had briefly repelled a Houthi advance before Mocha fell, but when neighboring units withdrew, the entire front collapsed. The Houthis, meanwhile, have spent a decade becoming something far more formidable — developing indigenous weapons, mastering drone warfare, and building a unified command that their opponents conspicuously lack.
Professor Abdulwahab al-Awaj of Taiz University framed the defeat as a crisis of cohesion rather than firepower: the Houthis won not through overwhelming military superiority, but by exploiting the breakdown of coordination and trust among their enemies. Sending more troops, he argued, will not be enough. What is required is a fundamental reorganization under a unified operational vision — and the rebuilding of trust that, for now, lies in ruins. Both the Yemeni government and Saudi Arabia are urgently reviewing their options, with the Kahbob mountains emerging as the next critical ground in a war whose trajectory has shifted sharply.
What was supposed to be a decisive military strike against Sana'a, the Houthi-controlled capital, instead became a catastrophic rout. More than 15 brigades collapsed in rapid succession, and by mid-September, Yemen's entire west coast had fallen into Houthi hands. The speed and scale of the defeat has left Yemen's anti-Houthi forces—those aligned with the UN-recognised government—locked in a bitter examination of how such a reversal was possible, and whether it can be undone.
The immediate trigger came in the early hours of September 10, when forces withdrew from Mocha, a port city on the western coast. According to Abdu Mukabib, a political activist from Mocha, the retreat was not a measured tactical pullback but a sudden abandonment. By the time Houthi fighters entered the city at 6 a.m., he wrote on Facebook, the defending forces had dwindled to fewer than 20 people—two military vehicles with five occupants each, and four motorcycles with two riders apiece. Hours before, the Houthis had seized the headquarters of the National Resistance Forces on Jabal al-Nar, or Fire Mountain, a high-ground position that was supposed to house six military brigades and sophisticated weaponry supplied by Saudi Arabia. The loss was total and swift.
Mukabib's account frames the withdrawal as a betrayal rather than a military necessity. "It was not a withdrawal from weakness or lack of equipment and supplies, but rather a cowardly and shameful withdrawal," he wrote, describing the event as causing humiliation to those who had fought alongside these forces. The National Resistance Forces, led by Tareq Saleh, offered a different explanation: they had withdrawn after suffering 500 casualties and to avoid being encircled. Saleh has since announced the formation of a new group, the "Tihami Resistance," positioned as independent from Yemen's national military structure.
The collapse has triggered urgent questions about what actually happened. Some Yemeni politicians, including the governor of Hadramaut, have alleged that billions of dollars were offered to persuade the defending forces to abandon their positions. No source for such payments was identified, but observers have pointed to the United Arab Emirates, which maintained close ties with Saleh's National Resistance Forces before withdrawing from Yemen in January. The UAE, reportedly bitter over Saudi Arabia's role in forcing its exit and the subsequent outlawing of the separatist Southern Transitional Council, has become a focus of suspicion. Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman has called for a formal investigation into the collapse.
Military analysts point to multiple structural failures beyond any alleged bribery. Poor command and control communications created bottlenecks in decision-making. The anti-Houthi forces suffered from internal divisions, including the influence of Saudi commanders whose priorities did not always align. The Giants Brigades, once linked to UAE-backed southern separatists, managed to repel a Houthi advance and recapture some positions in the days before Mocha fell—a potential springboard for reversing the tide. But when neighbouring National Resistance units withdrew, that advance collapsed into a series of retreats. The entire structure of coordination unraveled.
The Houthis, by contrast, have evolved into a far more capable military force than they were a decade ago. Iranian intelligence has bolstered their operations, but they have also developed their own indigenous weapons infrastructure, reducing their dependence on external suppliers. They have mastered the economics of modern asymmetric warfare, using cheap drones to harass maritime traffic and generating revenue through control of key Yemeni regions and occasional payments from Saudi Arabia—enough to acquire ballistic missiles and build a unified command structure. Iranian officials insist the Houthis are not merely a proxy force but an independent actor with their own strategic priorities.
Professor Abdulwahab al-Awaj of Taiz University in Yemen described the collapse as more than a conventional military defeat. "The collapse of the western coastal fronts is not merely a conventional military defeat, but a warning sign of a breakdown in coordination and trust among the anti-Houthi forces," he said. "The Houthis exploited this breakdown more than any decisive military superiority." He argued that simply sending reinforcements would not reverse the situation. What is needed, he said, is a fundamental reorganization of government forces and allied formations under a unified operational vision, with genuine trust rebuilt on the ground.
Both the Yemeni government and Saudi forces are now urgently reviewing the lessons of the defeat to determine whether the Houthi territorial gains can still be reversed. The immediate focus is on the Kahbob mountains, a strategic position from which anti-Houthi forces could restrict Houthi movement toward the Bab al-Mandab strait, one of the world's most crucial shipping channels. The question is no longer how the collapse happened, but whether the fractured anti-Houthi coalition can be reassembled into something coherent enough to fight back.
Citas Notables
The collapse of the western coastal fronts is not merely a conventional military defeat, but a warning sign of a breakdown in coordination and trust among the anti-Houthi forces. The Houthis exploited this breakdown more than any decisive military superiority.— Professor Abdulwahab al-Awaj, Taiz University
It was not a withdrawal from weakness or lack of equipment and supplies, but rather a cowardly and shameful withdrawal.— Abdu Mukabib, political activist from Mocha
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