Houthi takeover of Sanaa (September 2014)
Houthi fighters swept into Yemen's capital Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee and triggering the current civil war. The group's rapid seizure of the capital demonstrated how quickly it could overturn the existing order when it moved.
The government fled to Aden, and the country split between Houthi-controlled north and government-held south.
Saudi Arabia intervened in 2015, and the conflict settled into a grinding, years-long stalemate with no military resolution.
The September 2026 seizure of the Red Sea coast follows the same pattern of swift Houthi territorial gains, which is what prompted this new government counteroffensive.
