The Houthi movement, also known as Ansarallah (supporters of God), is a Zaydi Shiite militant group operating in Yemen and one of the warring parties in that country.
After the US and British attack on Houthi bases in Yemen, the whole world started talking about them. Who are the Houthis and how did they seize control of part of Yemen as a result of the war in that country?
War in Yemen
Yemen is located in the south of the Arabian Peninsula on the coast of the Red Sea. In 1962, the Yemeni army staged a military coup, deposed the monarch and proclaimed the Yemen Arab Republic.
Since the early 2000s, clashes between Shiite (Houthi) rebels and government forces have become increasingly common in Yemen. The Houthis have demanded greater autonomy for Yemen’s northern region they control and have accused authorities of discriminating against Shiites compared to the country’s Sunni majority. Also, the Houthis, as opponents of the rebels, sought to restore the theocratic monarchy (imamate), which existed before 1962.
The situation escalated again in 2014, when the Houthi rebels took up arms in search of a change of power in the country and occupied a significant part of Yemen’s territory, including the capital of the state, the city of Sanaa. In March 2015, President Abd Rabbo Mansour Ghadi fled the country. Since then, the Houthi militant group (originally calling itself the Yemen Revolutionary Committee) has been the de facto ruling force in the country, although its power is not recognized by the UN or Western countries.
Religious land
The Houthi movement was formally established in the 1990s to revive Zaydism, a centuries-old branch of Shiite Islam. The Zaidis ruled Yemen for centuries but were marginalized after the 1962 war when the Sunnis, representatives of mainstream orthodox Islam, came to power.
The movement received its name in honor of its founder and former leader Hussein al-Houthi (who was killed by the Yemeni army in September 2004). His followers are called Houthis.
Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s first president after the unification of North and South Yemen in 1990, initially supported the Houthi movement. But as his popularity grew and anti-government rhetoric intensified, the Houthis became a threat to Saleh’s power.
The Houthis’ last split and move into open confrontation with the Yemeni authorities occurred in 2003, when President Saleh supported the then US invasion of Iraq, which many Yemenis opposed.
Mass demonstrations swept the country, and authorities issued an arrest warrant for al-Houthi. However, even after his assassination in 2004, the Houthi movement continued to exist, its military wing growing.
Amid a wave of Arab Spring protests in 2011, the Houthis seized control of Yemen’s northern provinces and called for the overthrow of Saleh’s rule. In the following years, the aforementioned war took place in Yemen.
Part of the big game
A coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE has conducted several military operations against the Houthis since 2015. In 2016, the US Army sided with the coalition.
The war lasted for years, and only in 2022 was a humanitarian truce signed. Since the ceasefire, the Houthis have consolidated their control over the capital and much of northwestern Yemen, pushing for a deal with Saudi Arabia that would permanently recognize them as the country’s leaders.
Meanwhile, the east of the country is under the control of the Western and recognized Arab authority of Yemen, controlled by an executive body called the Presidential Governing Council. It was to him that President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi transferred his power in April 2022.
The UN has called the war in Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, saying around 250,000 people have died.
The Houthis are supported by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement. The Houthis are part of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance, an anti-Israeli and anti-Western alliance of regional militias backed by Tehran. Along with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis are one of the three largest armed movements with Iranian support.
The Houthis have joined a campaign of attacks on Israel since the fall of 2023, supporting the aggression of Hamas with strikes on Israeli territory.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.