TEHRAN — A massive ground offensive by the Yemeni Armed Forces just cleared Saudi-backed troops from 5,400 square kilometers of territory. Seven coalition military divisions dissolved in a matter of days.

Yemeni troops now hold the port of Mocha and the strategic Perim Island at the mouth of the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The operation rolled through Taiz and Hodeidah under the banner “Allah Is Stronger in Might and More Severe in Punishment.”

Combat footage released on September 12 by Ansarallah documents a mechanized retreat. Yemeni fighters pushed heavy weapons through the Jabal Habashi ridges and ambushed fleeing coalition convoys.

Armor burned. Saudi drones fell from the sky. Inside the Khalid bin Walid School, which Saudi proxies occupied as a barracks, advancing units seized intact communications gear.

At the Jabal Tariq camp, retreating mercenaries left behind radar systems and vehicles. Hundreds of Saudi-aligned fighters surrendered.

Yemeni soldiers opened coastal prisons to free local detainees held for years.

Riyadh and Washington are reportedly trading blame. Citing anonymous sources, CNN reported that Saudi-backed battalions operated at barely 20 percent of their official strength.

Corrupt commanders padded payrolls with ghost soldiers. When the front lines broke, proxy units begged for air support.

U.S. Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper traveled to Saudi Arabia for urgent coordination talks, but the military cover Riyadh sought from Washington has not materialized.

After Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly appealed to President Donald Trump twice for U.S. strikes, Trump rejected the request, while Washington limited its support to intelligence and targeting assistance.

More than 100 U.S. military personnel reportedly remain stationed in Saudi Arabia providing targeting data. Their presence failed to stop the collapse.

Saudi Arabia responded to its ground defeat by bombing Yemen at least 129 times over the weekend. F-15 and Typhoon jets out of Khamis Mushait struck targets across seven provinces.

Sanaa retaliated immediately. Brigadier General Yahya Saree confirmed a heavy barrage of ballistic missiles and drones hit the Saudi military base in Sharurah. The strike bypassed U.S.-supplied air defenses to ignite fires in vehicle staging yards.

The battlefield squeeze is tightening. Yemeni infantry captured the heights of Jabal al-Rawa on September 13. Losing this elevation cuts the main supply route for thousands of proxy fighters in Taiz.

They now face a bleak choice. They can abandon heavy equipment and flee on foot through narrow valleys, or surrender.