← WW3 RISK TRACKER / THEATER: Yemen War & Houthi Attacks
Saudi – Houthis conflict
- Houthi forces launched two ballistic missiles targeting areas north of Mokha city in western Yemen. Yemen Online · 1 Sep 2026[Yemen : Houthis Target Mokha with Ballistic Missiles; Gov’t Forces Destroy Launch Site in Hodeidah
- Yemeni naval forces intercepted four Houthi explosive-laden unmanned boats near Hanish and Zuqar islands in the Red Sea. Anadolu Ajansı Güncel Haberler · 1 Sep 2026Yemeni army says it foiled Houthi boat attack near Red Sea islandsYemen Online · 31 Aug 2026[Yemen : Yemeni Navy Repels Houthi Suicide Boats Near Red Sea Islands
- Shabwa Defense Forces shot down a Houthi reconnaissance drone over the Beihan Harib front in southeastern Yemen. Yemen Online · 31 Aug 2026[Yemen : Yemeni Gov’t Forces Shoot Down Houthi Drone in Shabwa
- Coalition special forces and Yemeni counterterrorism units killed senior ISIS leader Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari in a joint operation. Yemen Online · 1 Sep 2026[Yemen’s State Security Announces Killing of ISIS Leader Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari
- Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan established a General Secretariat in Riyadh to activate the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement. https://saudigazette.com.sa · 1 Sep 2026Saudi Arabia hails outcomes of Istanbul meet as key to collective deterrence and defensehttps://saudigazette.com.sa · 31 Aug 2026Saudi Arabia reaffirms commitment to activating Makkah Joint Defense Agreement
Frontline Asymmetric Engagements
Houthi forces launched two ballistic missiles toward Mokha city in western Yemen. Yemeni government forces destroyed a Houthi rocket launch platform in southern Hodeidah and shot down a Houthi drone over Shabwa province. Coalition special forces and Yemeni counterterrorism units killed ISIS leader Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari in a joint operation. Unidentified assailants sabotaged an electrical cable and circuit breaker in Mahra province. Yemen Online · 1 Sep 2026[Yemen : Houthis Target Mokha with Ballistic Missiles; Gov’t Forces Destroy Launch Site in HodeidahYemen Online · 31 Aug 2026[Yemen : Yemeni Gov’t Forces Shoot Down Houthi Drone in ShabwaYemen Online · 31 Aug 2026[Sabotage Attack Damages Power Network in Yemen’s Mahra Province
Red Sea Asymmetric Maritime Operations
Yemeni naval units repelled four Houthi explosive-laden unmanned boats near Hanish and Zuqar islands. Media reports indicated Houthi leaders established structured cooperation with Somalia's al-Shabaab, involving drone technology and fighter training. Unconfirmed reports also detailed undisclosed understandings providing safe passage through Bab al-Mandeb for Russian and Chinese vessels. Anadolu Ajansı Güncel Haberler · 1 Sep 2026Yemeni army says it foiled Houthi boat attack near Red Sea islandsYemen Online · 31 Aug 2026[Yemen : Yemeni Navy Repels Houthi Suicide Boats Near Red Sea IslandsYemen Online · 1 Sep 2026[Yemen : Houthi Delegation in al-Shabaab Stronghold Weapons Bridge Crosses Gulf of Aden
Multilateral Defense and Saudi Diplomacy
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met Turkish and Pakistani counterparts in Istanbul to activate the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement. The Saudi Council of Ministers approved establishing a General Secretariat in Saudi Arabia to coordinate collective deterrence with Türkiye and Pakistan. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan appointed Manal Radwan as special envoy for negotiations and peace efforts. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed regional security with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman in Jeddah. https://saudigazette.com.sa · 1 Sep 2026Saudi foreign minister appoints Manal Radwan special envoy for negotiations and peace effortshttps://saudigazette.com.sa · 31 Aug 2026Prince Khalid, Asim Munir discuss strengthening Saudi-Pak defense cooperationhttps://saudigazette.com.sa · 1 Sep 2026Saudi Arabia hails outcomes of Istanbul meet as key to collective deterrence and defense
Assessment
Recurrent missile strikes against coastal hubs, Red Sea unmanned vessel interdictions, and coalition defense institutionalization maintain theater risk at critical levels.
- 2026-09-01
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan activate Makkah Joint Defense Agreement
The three nations established a General Secretariat in Riyadh to operationalize the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.
- 2026-08-24
Houthi ballistic missile damages commercial tanker off Yanbu
Ansar Allah fired a ballistic missile that struck a commercial tanker 63 nautical miles west of Yanbu, igniting a shipboard fire.
- 2026-08-19
Ansar Allah launches drone strikes targeting the Saudi Aramco oil refinery in Jizan.
On August 18, 2026, Houthi forces targeted Saudi Aramco's oil refinery facility in Jizan with drones. The strike represents a direct attack on Saudi energy infrastructure amid renewed cross-border hostilities.
4 more
- 2026-08-17
Ansar Allah claims missile strikes on Saudi military vessels off Mocha.
Houthi forces claimed targeting a Saudi military landing ship and four patrol craft with ballistic missiles and drones off the coast of Mocha. Yemeni army sources reported five ballistic missiles launched toward Bab al-Mandeb and Red Sea shipping lanes.
- 2026-08-15
Houthi strikes on Mokha port kill eight and shut down maritime operations
Houthi missile and drone strikes targeted Mokha port, killing eight people and forcing authorities to suspend all maritime operations.
- 2026-08-12
Houthi forces launch fatal Red Sea ship attack and sustain missile strikes on Mokha
A Houthi attack on a commercial vessel in the Red Sea killed six crew members, including three Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian. Concurrently, Houthi forces launched ten missiles and four drones targeting Yemen's western coast and Mokha port over four consecutive days.
- 2026-08-11
Fatal Houthi missile strike on commercial vessel near Bab el-Mandeb kills three crew members.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Is there a war in Yemen?
Not a declared war between states. The armed confrontation is between the Houthi movement and the Saudi-led coalition and the Yemeni government, and it reaches shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait. Fighting has continued through repeated truces without a settlement. Legally a non-international armed conflict — the Houthis against Yemen's government — internationalized by Saudi and Emirati involvement. The index reads 76/100 as of 1 January 1970 (full-scale war); above 50 it grades the fighting itself rather than the risk of it.
How dangerous is the Saudi and Houthis situation right now?
The index reads 76/100 — full-scale war. The scale is anchored on 22 historical episodes from 1914 to 2005, so the number means the same thing from one theater to the next. It is a measurement of what is reported, not a forecast.
How is the Saudi and Houthis risk index calculated?
By fixed formula from open-source reporting: events are extracted and graded by how well evidenced they are, scored across weighted factors, and the model never picks the number. How the index works, and what it does not measure, is explained at wwiii.report/methodology.
How often is this updated?
Every day. The report is rebuilt from that day's reporting and the index re-judged from it, and a fall is published only once the evidence confirms it.
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
One 0–100 scale for the whole conflict. 0–49 is escalation before war; 50–100 is active war and how far it has gone.
50 is not a threshold the number can cross on its own. Which side a theater sits on is decided by whether verified belligerents are fighting there, so war onset always moves the score up across 50 — the number never declares a war by climbing.
It is a stage, not a probability: 42 is not a 42% chance of war. Below 50 it grades movement toward war, above 50 the war itself.
Why it moved, under the chart, names what changed in the latest move: the day’s readings — strikes, casualties, talks — and, when the conflict’s stage was re-judged, what was graded differently and the events behind it. Open it for the detail.
Re-judged from open reporting by fixed formula — the model never picks a number — and a fall publishes only once the evidence confirms it. A dot on the line is a day the stage itself moved. How it is made →
Direction — which way the week pushed. Severity — where the index sits. Connections — how much of the rest a shock here reaches. Cascade — that reach combined with how ready this theater is to go off.
The index reads the state of the conflict, not the volume of news. Each run grades the factors listed below against fixed rubrics, and the score follows by formula.
So a dramatic headline moves nothing unless it changes a grade. A theater already graded for recurring incursions absorbs one more without moving — it is priced in.
Open How this was measured for every grade, its movement since the last run, and the events behind it. Full construction →
A different measurement from the score above, from a different source. This line counts how much of the world's news reports conflict between these two states, against their own long-run normal: 100 is normal, 200 is twice the usual level.
It is computed mechanically from the GDELT Project's open event stream every 15 minutes and never touches the assessed index above — when both move together, that agreement is the signal. A day with too few events shows no reading rather than a guess. Click the chart for the full history.
Data: the GDELT Project.