The Houthi are Shia from northern Yemen and make up about 30% of the population. They’ve been at war with the central government for the best part of a decade. At the beginning of 2014, they won a series of battles close to the Saudi border. And in September, Houthi fighters suddenly descended on Sanaa.
They took over government buildings, the main airport and a share of power. Negotiations ensued, while Houthis seized other towns, cities and areas, including the port of Hodeida on the Red Sea. They continued to build up their presence in Sanaa, and two weeks ago held a huge rally to celebrate the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday.
One of the Houthis’ slogans is daubed on walls in the capital: “Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
Now, apparently unhappy with the shape of a draft constitution, they’ve gone for broke.
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In November, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Saleh, saying “he had reportedly become one of the primary supporters of violence perpetrated by individuals affiliated with the Huthi group.”
“More recently, as of September 2014, Saleh reportedly has been destabilizing Yemen by using others to undermine the central government and create enough instability to threaten a coup,” the U.S. Treasury Department said.
That threat has now been realized.
Yemen may be poor, but it occupies strategic real estate alongside one of the world’s most important shipping lanes. And much of that real estate is now ripe for exploitation by al Qaeda’s most effective franchise, as it battles a group that looks for moral support, and maybe more, from Tehran.
