Business for Peace Award

The Houthis: From a local group to a national power

Published on 4 September 2014 in Report
Ali Ibrahim Al-Moshki (author)

Ali Ibrahim Al-Moshki


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A model created by the Youth Cultural Forum of the cave in Marran Mountain, Sa’ada, where Hussein Al-Houthi took refuge at the beginning of the war in 2004. It was here that on Sept. 10, 2004, government forces launched an assault, capturing and subsequen

A model created by the Youth Cultural Forum of the cave in Marran Mountain, Sa’ada, where Hussein Al-Houthi took refuge at the beginning of the war in 2004. It was here that on Sept. 10, 2004, government forces launched an assault, capturing and subsequen

Starting their movement in Marran district of Sa’ada governorate, the Houthis are now in control of two entire governorates: Sa'ada and Amran. Trying to expand their dominance in the entire north of Yemen, the Houthis are currently launching massive demonstrations in the capital Sana’a calling for the toppling of the government.

This report highlights the most significant events to date that have taken place since the establishment of the Houthi movement.

The Youth Believers

In 1979, Dar Al-Hadith Center was established in Dammaj village in Sa'ada governorate by Sheikh Muqbil Al-Wadei to teach Salafi religious doctrines. The center was created with the support of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, the former commander of the 1st Armored Division. They lent their support in order to try and prevent any attempts by the Zaydi Shias to revolt against the regime and bring back the Imamate which ruled the north from 1918 until 1962.

During the civil war which followed, Sa’ada was a main opposition stronghold. Ever since, the region has been largely ignored and marginalized by the government.

In 1990, the Al-Haq Party was established by Hussein Bader Al-Deen Al-Houthi in an attempt to address a number of social, political, and economic grievances in Sa’ada.

The Youth Believers (Al-Shabab Al-Momen) was established by Hussein Al-Houthi in 1991 in Marran district of Sa'ada as a forum for Zaydi cultural events, with the aim of gathering the Zaydi clergies in Sa'ada and other governorates to support the Al-Haq Party, which represented the Zaydi ideology politically.

The Youth Believers movement focused on reviving cultural, social, and religious events in the area. Members of the group established religious centers in Sa'ada, Al-Jawf, and Sana'a and republished the books Hussein Al-Houthi wrote in response to Al-Wadei’s Salafi writings.

Hussein Al-Houthi

The term “Houthis” comes from the name of Hussein Bader Al-Deen Al-Houthi, who founded the Al-Haq Party and the Youth Believers. Hussein Al-Houthi was born in 1957 in Al-Ruwais city, Bani Baher area, Sa'ada. He belongs to the Hashmite family, which traces its lineage back to Al-Hussein Bin Ali Bin Aby Talib, the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson.

Al-Houthi was educated in scientific institutes from elementary until secondary levels and was taught about Zaydi doctrine by his father and other scholars. He later studied in Sudan.

He was a member of parliament representing Marran district in Sa'ada between 1993 and 1997. In 1997, Al-Houthi was unsuccessful in parliamentary elections. He then spent his time spreading his ideology and beliefs through lessons, lectures, and preaching. He focused on leading the Youth Believers, setting up several branches of the organization and building several mosques.

On January 17, 2002, Al-Houthi is said by his followers today to have climbed to the top of Marran Mountain—over a decade after he first started the movement in the same place—and it was there that he first shouted what is known as the scream: “Allah is Great, death to America, death to Israel, cursed be the Jews, victory for Islam.”  

In June 2004, the Youth Believers, or what then became known as the Houthis, began an armed campaign.

THE HOUTHIS WARS

A long war, 2004-2010

After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, then-President Saleh thought that Wahhabism was growing, specifically with Salafis in Sa’ada, and supported Hussein Al-Houthi in order to counter this trend.

 However, after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Hussein Al-Houthi began to publically criticize Saleh, calling him an agent for the US and Israel. When Saleh headed to perform Friday prayers in one of Sa’ada’s mosques people shouted the Houthis’ slogan, leading Saleh to have 600 of them arrested on the spot and sent to jail.

President Saleh then resumed his support for the Salafis, appointing them in Sa’ada’s mosques instead of Zaydi Imams. Also, he jailed a large number of Hussein Al-Houthi’s followers and supporters. The government also stopped paying the salaries of teachers participating in Al-Houthi’s activities.

Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, who took over when his brother died in 2004.

Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, who took over when his brother died in 2004.

In June 2004, the Yemeni authorities arrested 640 of Hussein Al-Houthi’s students while they were protesting in front of the US embassy in Sana'a. Government forces then headed to arrest Al-Houthi himself, accusing him of attempting a coup on the republican regime and attempting to reinstate the Imamate. This event set off the six-year war between the Houthis and the government in Sa’ada, which had six rounds of fighting. Yemenis tend to refer to each round of fighting as an individual war.

According to statistics published by the Youth Cultural Forum, a group affiliated with the Houthis, 6,531 Houthis were killed in the war in Sa'ada from 2004-2010. At the end of August 2014 President Hadi announced in a speech that more than 4,000 soldiers were killed and 12,000 injured during the six rounds of fighting.

In the first round of war, which lasted from June 18 to Sept. 10, 2004, the founder of the Houthi movement Hussein Bader Al-Deen Al-Houthi was killed, on September 10.

Abdulmalik Bin Bader Al-Deen Al-Houthi, the current leader of the Houthis, was born in 1982. He took over leadership from his brother, Hussein Al-Houthi, following his death in 2004. Abdulmalik Al-Houthi is both a military man and a Zaydi scholar.

The war with Saudi Arabia

The sixth round of fighting in the war against the government witnessed a new development: The intervention of Saudi Arabia, which accused the Houthis of infiltrating and shooting Saudi boarder guards. In turn, the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of allowing the Yemeni army to position itself in Al-Dokhan Mountain in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, to attack the Houthis from two sides. After talks with the Saudi government fell through on Nov. 2, 2009, the Houthis raided the area and controlled the mountain.

On November 8, the Saudi authorities declared they had regained control over Al-Dokhan Mountain. They announced that 82 soldiers were killed and 26 missing, also saying that they believed 12 Houthis were killed and 470 others were wounded.

The war with the Salafis: The Siege of Dammaj

In 2011, the Houthis closed the entrances leading to Dammaj village, where Dar Al-Hadith is located and a large population of Salafis resides. The Houthis besieged Dar Al-Hadith for two months. Denying having been involved in any siege, the Houthis say they were merely checking for weapons and foreigners inside Dar Al-Hadith.

The clashes continued between the Salafis and the Houthis until October, when a war started between the two parties and resulted in the deaths of 830 Salafis who were killed between October 2011 and January 2014. This led President Hadi to issue a decree requiring non-Yemeni Salafis to leave Dammaj. Later, the government brokered an agreement between the Houthis and the Salafis, which required Yemeni Salafis to leave Dammaj. Large numbers of Salafis—estimated at around 15,000—fled the governorate, moving to other locations in Yemen, mainly Sana’a.

In Mabar district in Dhamar governorate a war broke out between the Houthis and Salafis at the end of last year, but an agreement was reached on January 26.

The war with Islah

After the six rounds of fighting with the army, during which the Houthis consistently accused Islah Party members of fighting alongside the army, the Houthis engaged in sporadic clashes with members of the Islah Party in a number of governorates. In Al-Radhma district of Ibb governorate Houthis set up checkpoints and began searching citizens, often resulting in small-scale clashes.

Throughout 2014 in Amran, wars and violent clashes broke out between the Houthis and tribes loyal to the Islah Party in Al-Osaimat area, after which the Houthis gained control over Al-Osaimat and Al-Qaflah areas. The fighting calmed for a while but restarted again every once in a while until houses owned by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ahmar, leader of the Hashed tribe, were blown up, and the family was kicked out of the governorate.

The Houthis also took control of Harf Sufian district, Raidah city, and Al-Ahnoom district, all in Amran, subsequently taking control of the entire governorate. In the Houthi takeover of Amran city on July 8, Islah-loyalist Brigadier Hameed Al-Qushaibi, former commander of the 310th Armored Brigade, was killed.

In Hajjah governorate, seven rounds of fighting have occurred since the beginning of 2013 between the Houthis on one side and the Islah Party and other tribes on the other. The fighting has taken place in the areas of Aahem, Mazara'a, Sawdeen, Wadi Qhams, Al-Mandalah, Mustaba, and Shaha.

In Al-Jawf, conflicts have ignited in various parts of the governorate since the beginning of 2013. Fighting continues until this day.

In Sana'a governorate in the district of Arhab, fierce clashes broke out between the Houthis and tribesmen widely suspected of being Islah affiliates in July, resulting in dozens of deaths. Many locals are anticipating fighting to begin anew in Sana’a governorate.

Houthis’ support

The Houthis have many ways to get their weapons, some of which are provided by gun traders who are spread all over Marib, Al-Jawf, and Sa’ada governorates, and by tribal allies.

During the six rounds of fighting in Sa’ada, soldiers from the Yemeni army used to sell guns to the Houthis as well. Saleh’s followers used to sell their weapons just to spite Ali Mohsen. Saleh himself wanted to give the presidency to his son and increase his son’s control over the country’s military. He therefore gave weapons to the Houthis for them to decrease Mohsen’s power.

President Hadi accused Saleh last week, on August 26, of having supported the Houthis with weapons during the six rounds of fighting from 2004 until 2010.

The low salaries soldiers received and difficult economic conditions also motivated soldiers to sell their weapons. Additionally, the Houthis have stolen significant weaponry from the state in Amran and Sa’ada and Al-Jawf.

Houthis’ final source of support is allegedly Iran. On many occasions the Yemeni government accused Iran of supporting the Houthis financially and militarily. Former President Saleh accused Iran on more than one occasion of supporting the group, while President Hadi made the same accusation on August 26 this year.

Post-2011 uprising

The Houthis participated in the 2011 uprising which toppled thenPresident Saleh. After the crisis the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) was launched. The Houthis’ participation in NDC resulted in their re-branding as “Ansar Allah,” or “Supporters of God,” in March 2013. Holding 35 seats, the Houthis were the only group who represented Sa'ada governorate in the NDC.

As part of reconciliation efforts in 2012, President Hadi made the decision to hand over Hussein Al-Houthi’s corpse, after it was held in secret since 2004. On June 5, Hussein Al-Houthi was buried in Marran, Sa’ada, in front of thousands of his supporters. A shrine was built for him, which is now frequented by Zaydi Shias.

A number of politicians who were closely associated with the Houthis were assassinated, including parliament member Abdulkareen Jadban, on Nov. 22, 2013, in Sana'a, and Ahmad Sharaf Al-Deen, who was assassinated on January 25 of this year, the day the NDC finished.

Today, the Houthis control the governorates of Sa’ada and Amran. They are located in many areas in Sana'a, such as Arhab and Hamdan, while they have a heavy presence in the governorates of Dhamar in the districts of Anss, Maghrib Anss, and Maber. They also maintain a large presence in Hajjah governorate, and in Al-Jawf in the districts of Al-Safra and Al-Ghail and a number of other areas.

The Houthis’ increasing power is reflected in the number of media outlets they control: Al-Masira TV channel, Sam Radio channel, Al-Haweya newspaper, Al-Masira newspaper, and several news websites.


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