Sheba Intelligence sources say the targeted forward command center coordinated Houthi operations across southern Taiz and parts of Lahj, near strategic highlands linked to the battle for Bab al-Mandab.

Military sources told Sheba Intelligence that an airstrike on Monday morning, October 12, targeted a joint Houthi–Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forward operations center in southern Yemen's Taiz governorate, reportedly killing its Iranian commander, a deputy believed to be Lebanese, and approximately ten Houthi command-and-control personnel.

The strike hit a tent in Wadi al-Fajr, in the Al-Za'azea area of Al-Shamayatayn district. According to the sources, military and security authorities subsequently identified the site as a forward command-and-control center responsible for coordinating Houthi operations across an area extending approximately 30 kilometers into parts of Taiz and Lahj governorates.

The targeted facility was located approximately 45 kilometers from Taiz city, 80 kilometers from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and 30 kilometers from Al-Mudaribah district in neighboring Lahj governorate.

Sources said the area surrounding the tent had been heavily occupied by military vehicles and armed pickups before the strike. These vehicles dispersed immediately after the attack.

Intelligence information had also indicated the presence of two individuals with non-Yemeni features at the facility, one of whom was described as tall and thick-haired. Subsequent reports identified the two as the Iranian official overseeing the operations center and his deputy, whose Lebanese nationality remains unconfirmed.

Strategic Link to Bab al-Mandab

The location of the command center is significant because of its proximity to the mountainous corridor connecting southern Taiz with Al-Mudaribah in Lahj, an area central to the military contest over Bab al-Mandab.

According to the sources, the IRGC and Houthis have sought to capture strategic highlands along this corridor to regain control of the strait and establish a sustained military presence overlooking the approaches to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Al-Mudaribah holds particular importance because government forces launched their operation to recapture Bab al-Mandab from this axis, just days after the Houthis had seized the strategic waterway.

Control of the surrounding highlands would provide elevated positions for monitoring government troop movements, threatening supply routes and supporting military operations toward the strait.

The strike comes amid repeated attacks on Houthi and IRGC command facilities as fighting continues across Taiz and the mountainous areas bordering Lahj.

The reported presence of an Iranian commander and a potentially Lebanese deputy at the targeted facility suggests direct foreign involvement in the coordination of Houthi battlefield operations near Bab al-Mandab.

If confirmed, the deaths would represent a disruption to a forward command structure supporting Houthi efforts to regain strategically important terrain overlooking one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints.

Sheba Intelligence has not independently verified the identities of those killed or the final casualty toll.