Yemen Forces Ran Over Houthis in Verified Videos — SkimNews
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- Yemeni government fighters drove armored vehicles over Houthi opponents in Reuters-verified videos on October 5, 2026; some victims were unarmed, sitting, crouching, or had their hands raised, though shooting was also heard and a vehicle windscreen was cracked by gunfire.
- The Houthis declared the footage proof of 'war crimes' showing 'the true nature of the Saudi regime,' while the Saudi-led coalition and the Giants Brigade spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
- The Homeland Shield Forces, a significant formation in the Yemeni government's military coalition, issued a directive on October 7 urging troops to treat prisoners well and adhere to religious, ethical, and legal standards.
- The Giants Brigade, the main Yemeni force in the Bab el-Mandeb counter-attack, is a southern Sunni formation originally drawn from ultra-conservative religious schools and split between rival Saudi and UAE-backed factions in 2026.
- The United States rebuffed Saudi requests for military help to reverse Houthi gains on the Red Sea coast, adding Yemen to the broader Iran-US conflict as Saudi Arabia conducted intensive air strikes on Houthi positions.
- Fighting continued around Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, where Houthi gains in a mountain district cut off a main road to Aden and encircled government forces.
Why it matters: The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a chokepoint for global oil shipments, and the Houthi seizure of nearby territory last month already pushed up worldwide petrol and diesel prices — meaning the verified footage of forces running over unarmed fighters isn't just a war-crimes controversy but could harden international opinion and further complicate the US calculus on whether to eventually back Saudi military requests.
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