Explained: The history of the Houthis

this is the slogan of the hopi movement a small rebel army who now rule over 70 of yemenis and are fighting a bitter war against saudi arabia and its allies but how did a group from the mountains in yemen's far north take control and what exactly do they want [Music] the houthis emerged in yemen's northwestern southern province in the 1990s established by former mp and religious scholar hussein houthi al houthi said he wanted to protect and revive zaydi islam a sect of shiaism that makes up 35 percent of yemen's population zaidis have a long and powerful history in yemen and had ruled large parts of the country under name since the year 897. when a civil war broke out in north yemen in 1962 the last imam was overthrown the houthis say that this along with the ensuing government policies left many zadies feeling increasingly disenfranchised when al houthi emerged he began to rail against the influence of u.s imperialism and saudi salafism on yemen's rulers in particular on president ali abdullah saleh who himself was a republican zaidi al-houthi's ideas appealed to many but not all zadies supported him his opponents accused him of pro-iran links and a desire to reinstate the imamate a theocratic system of rule led by a religious leader who must be a descendant of the prophet muhammed [Music] [Music] and in 2004 launched an armed rebellion against saleh after he attempted to arrest hossein healthy a few months later and healthy was killed by yemeni police but his death only fueled what would become six years of fighting known as the sada wars by 2009 the houthi insurgency had spread beyond sadha province and into saudi territory where a large number of saudi's sheer population lived saudi intervened pushing the houthis back and helping yemen's government regain control of its north when the arab spring uprising spread to yemen in 2011 the houthis joined the protest movement that ultimately forced saleh to step down after a 33-year rule but saleh didn't go quietly and his fight with his replacement abdulrah bom and sur hadi would destabilize the country leading to an economic crisis in what was already the region's poorest country the houthis saw an opportunity and reemerged retaking control in parts of the north then in an unexpected move they allied with their former enemy saleh and stormed the capital sanaa in september 2014. with the former president's system of patronage and corruption and his links within yemen's divided army the houthis were met with little resistance is a new government was formed in sana'a and houthi forces continued to expand their control rapidly south to ib province and west to hodeidah president hezi fled the country and sought back up from saudi arabia so he's beginning to grow concerned about a healthy re-emergence and what it could mean for iran's influence on its border in march 2015 a coalition led by saudi in the uae stepped in and launched a campaign of heavy bombings across houthi strongholds to save yemen from a takeover by a radical militant group the kingdom of saudi arabia and its gcc allies as well as its allies outside the gcc have made a decision to respond to the legitimate request by the legitimate president of yemen and to provide the assistance needed the intervention was spearheaded by mohammed bin salman then saudi's minister of defense and dubbed operation decisive storm as the name suggests it was intended to be short and swift reinstating yemen's government and sanaa and highlighting salman's leadership potential ahead of his bid for crown prince but the campaign failed to oust the houthis who strengthened their grip on power and continued to expand into government-held territories a number of un-led peace talks between both sides were attempted including ceasefires and prisoner exchanges but ultimately failed as stopping the conflict meanwhile the humanitarian situation in yemen became desperate pushing the already impoverished people to the brink of famine human rights organizations accused both the houthis and the saudi-led coalition of crimes against humanity including the targeting of civilian areas hospitals and schools in december 2017 ali abdullah saleh formally broke ties with the rebels in a televised speech and announced he was open to dialogue with the saudi-led coalition [Music] the houthis accused saleh of treachery two days later the man who was once deemed invincible and survived numerous assassination attempts was killed by a healthy sniper and sana the group began to root out all opposition in areas under their control accused of detaining and torturing journalists academics students and minorities as well as recruiting child soldiers meanwhile they continued to expand their territory launching a series of reprisal attacks into saudi arabia on the 14th of september 2019 saudi's aramco oil facilities were hit by drone strikes shutting down two of its main facilities and taking out five percent of the global oil supply the houthis claimed the strike citing it as a victory against their adversary but saudi and the us blamed iran accusing them of using the houthis as cover to launch their own attacks on the gulf iran denied playing a role in the attack as well as repeated accusations that had funded and armed the shia rebels since the beginning of the war six years on the houthis looked closer than ever to seizing total control of yemen confident they can hold out longer than the saudis and the yemeni government nearly six decades after the umami was overthrown what will happen if the houthis win the war you

Channel: Middle East Eye

Views: 442,324

Keywords: middle east eye, mee, mee news, news, middle east eye news, explained, houthis, houthi, who are the houthis, The history of the Houthis, yemen, yemen news, yemen war, humanitarian crisis, what's happening in yemen, saudi arabia, saudi, uae, mbs, mohammed bin salman, bin salman, al houthi, حوثيون, السعودية, حوثي, history, vox

Id: RSY5yESjRLQ

Length: 7min 38sec (458 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 20 2021