Houthi insurgency

Houthi insurgency
Part of the Yemeni crisis and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict

Houthi militants, September 2015
Date18 June 2004 – 16 September 2014
(10 years, 2 months, 4 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Former North Yemen
Result

Houthi victory

Belligerents

 Yemen

 Saudi Arabia
Supported by:
 Jordan[2]
 Morocco[3]
 United States[4][5]		 Houthi Movement
 Yemen (pro-Saleh forces)
Alleged support by:
 Iran[6][7]
 North Korea[8][9][10]
 Libya (until 2011)[11]

Ansar al-Sharia

Commanders and leaders

Yemen Abdrabbuh Hadi
(2012–2015)
Yemen Hameed Al-Qushaibi †[20]
Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh
(2004–2012) †
Yemen Mohammed Basindawa
(2011–2014)
Yemen Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar
(2004–2014)
Yemen Ali Muhammad Mujawar
(2007–2011)
Yemen Abdul Qadir Bajamal
(2001–2007)
Yemen Ahmed Saleh
(2000–2012)

Yemen Yahya Saleh
(2001–2012)
Yemen Amr Ali al-Uuzali †[citation needed]
Yemen Ali Salem al-Ameri †[21]
Yemen Ahmed Bawazeir †[21]
Saudi Arabia Khalid bin Sultan
(2011–2013)
Saudi Arabia Saleh Al-Muhaya
(2009–2011)

Abdul Malik al-Houthi[22]
Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi †
Yahia al-Houthi
Muhammad al-Houthi
Abdul-Karim al-Houthi
Abdullah al-Ruzami  (POW)3
Abu Ali al-Hakem
Yusuf al-Madani
Taha al-Madani
Abu Haider †
Abbas Aidah †
Mohammad Abd al-Salam
Ali al-Qantawi †
Fares Mana'a4[16]

Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh (alleged from 2014 until his death in 2017)
Yemen Ahmed Saleh (alleged from 2014)

Yemen Yahya Saleh (alleged since 2014)		 Nasir al-Wuhayshi †
Qasim al-Raymi
Nasser al-Ansi †
Ibrahim al-Rubaish †
Khalid Batarfi
Harith bin Ghazi al-Nadhari †
Strength

Yemen:
30,000 soldiers in-theatre[23]
66,700 total[24]
27,000 tribal fighters[25]
Saudi Arabia:
100,000 deployed[26]

199,500 total[24]

Houthis
2,000 (2004)[27]
10,000 (2009)[28]

100,000 (2011)[29][30]		 -
Casualties and losses

Yemen:
1,000–1,300 killed
6,000 wounded[31][32][33]
(Yemeni claim)
2,600–3,000 killed
8,000 wounded[34]
(Independent estimates)
495 captured
(all released)[34][35][36][37]
Saudi Arabia:
133 KIA[38]
470 WIA[citation needed]

6 MIA/POW[38]

3,700–5,500 rebels and civilians killed[citation needed]

3,000 arrested[39]		 -

Total casualties:
Hundreds to thousands killed (humanitarian organizations), 25,000 (Houthi sources)[40]
2,000 Sa'dah residents handicapped[41]
250,000 Yemenis displaced[42]

1.General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar in charge of Yemeni operations against the Houthis until 2011 when he deserted.
2.Sheikh Badreddin al-Houthi died of natural causes in November 2010
3.Sheikh Abdullah al-Ruzami turned himself in to the authorities in 2005, but later he was released

4.Sheikh Farris Mana'a was a government ally until his arrest in 2010, after which he endorsed the Houthis and was appointed to head their administration.

The Houthi insurgency,[43][44] also known as the Houthi rebellion, the Sa'dah War, or the Sa'dah conflict, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis (though the movement also includes Sunnis[45]) against the Yemeni military that began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war. The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty.[46]

Initially, most of the fighting took place in Sa'dah Governorate in northwestern Yemen, but some of the fighting spread to neighbouring governorates Hajjah, 'Amran, al-Jawf and the Saudi province of Jizan. After the Houthi takeover of the capital city Sanaa in late 2014, the insurgency became a full-blown civil war with a major Saudi-led intervention in Yemen beginning in March 2015.[47]

  1. ^ "Government reinforces army to eradicate Houthis". ReliefWeb. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Saudis 'in a panic mode' as Shi'ite rebels move North from Yemen". Worldtribune.com. 4 December 2009. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  3. ^ Canales, Pedro (3 December 2009). "Marruecos y Jordania envían tropas de élite para ayudar a los saudíes en Yemen". El Imparcial (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 December 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  4. ^ "Yemen seeks US help to quash Houthis". Ahlul Bayt News Agency. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Houthi TV Airs Footage of US Military Plane in Yemeni Airbase". MEMRI. Archived from the original on 2019-04-13. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
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  7. ^ Martin Reardon (30 September 2014). "Saudi Arabia, Iran and the 'Great Game' in Yemen". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  8. ^ "North Korea's Balancing Act in the Persian Gulf". HuffPost. 17 August 2015. Archived from the original on 17 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015. North Korea's military support for Houthi rebels in Yemen is the latest manifestation of its support for anti-American forces.
  9. ^ "North Korea Likely Supplied Scud Missiles Fired at Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Houthi Rebels - VICE News". vice.com. 29 July 2015. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Report: North Korea supplying missiles to Yemen rebels". upi.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Mana'a and al-Ahmar received money from Gaddafi to shake security of KSA, Yemen". 4 September 2011. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Houthis accuse Yemen's president of arming Al-Qaeda". Middle East Monitor. 19 January 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  13. ^ "How al Qaeda's biggest enemy took over Yemen (and why the U.S. government is unlikely to support them)". The Intercept. 22 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Insurgents take control of Yemeni city". Financial Times. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  15. ^ Yemen Post Staff (27 March 2011). "Houthi Group Appoints Arms Dealer as Governor of Sa'ada province". Yemen Post. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  16. ^ a b Al-Batati, Saeed (2011-03-28). "Yemeni regime loses grip on four provinces". Archived from the original on March 31, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  17. ^ The Muslim News Yemen after Saleh: A future fraught with violence Archived August 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Friday 27 May 2011.
  18. ^ "Bombings in Yemeni Mosques Kill More Than 130". The New York Times. 20 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
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  20. ^ EIU Digital Solutions. "Death of military commander sparks fears for transition". Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  21. ^ a b "Top Yemeni officers die in ambush". BBC News. 2009-11-04. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
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  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arrabyee-2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ a b Center for Strategic and International Studies The Middle East Military Balance Archived 2016-04-14 at the Wayback Machine, 2005.
  25. ^ Salmoni, Barak A.; Loidolt, Bryce; Wells, Madeleine (2010-04-28). Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: The Huthi Phenomenon - Barak A. Salmoni, Bryce Loidolt, Madeleine Wells - Google Boeken. Rand Corporation. ISBN 9780833049742. Retrieved 17 October 2014 – via Google Books.
  26. ^ "Tracker: Saudi Arabia's Military Operations Along Yemeni Border - Critical Threats". Criticalthreats.org. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  27. ^ Hakim Almasmari (10 April 2010). "Thousands Expected to die in 2010 in Fight against Al-Qaeda". Yemen Post. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  28. ^ "Peninsula on the brink". Ahram.org.eg. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  29. ^ CNN Medics: Militants raid Yemen town, killing dozens Archived 2011-11-29 at the Wayback Machine, November 27, 2011.
  30. ^ Houthis Kill 24 in North Yemen Archived 2011-11-30 at the Wayback Machine, 27 November 2011.
  31. ^ "Yemeni Authorities Set Conditions for Ending Military Operations in Sa'ada- Yemen Post English Newspaper Online". Yemen Post. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  32. ^ Al-Haj, Ahmed (19 February 2007). "Clashes in Yemen Kill More Than 100". Fox News. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  33. ^ "Yemeni military battles Shi'ite rebels". The Age. Melbourne. 20 March 2007. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  34. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ploughshares1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ "Shiite rebels release 180 Yemen prisoners". ABC News. 2010-03-18. Archived from the original on 2010-05-02. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  36. ^ Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Thomson Reuters Foundation". alertnet.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2010-07-28. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  37. ^ "Yemen rebels free 200 captured soldiers: mediator". Archived from the original on April 29, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  38. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference saud was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  39. ^ Barak A. Salmoni; Bryce Loidolt; Madeleine Wells (2010). "Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: The Huthi Phenomenon" (PDF). RAND National Defense Research Institute. p. xv. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  40. ^ Salmoni, Barak A.; Loidolt, Bryce; Wells, Madeleine (28 April 2010). Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: The Huthi Phenomenon - Barak A. Salmoni, Bryce Loidolt, Madeleine Wells - Google Boeken. Rand Corporation. ISBN 9780833049742. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2014 – via Google Books.
  41. ^ "Salafist, Houthi sectarian rift threatens to engulf fragile state of Yemen". The Daily Star Newspaper. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
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  43. ^ Hill, Ginny (2007-02-05). "Yemen fears return of insurgency". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2008-04-06. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  44. ^ McGregor, Andrew (August 12, 2004). "Shi'ite Insurgency in Yemen: Iranian Intervention or Mountain Revolt?" (PDF). Terrorism Monitor. 2 (16). The Jamestown Foundation: 4–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 21, 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
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  46. ^ Cite error: The named reference Al Jazeera1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  47. ^ "Crises multiply for divided Yemen". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.