Houthis separate loyalists from legitimacy to fund fighters with their salaries

Islam Muhammad

The Houthi group decided to dismiss government employees who were out of work as supporters of the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen.

The so-called Ministry of Civil Service, headed by a Huthi leadership, has circulated a statement to the provinces and government sectors in the Houthi control areas to limit the names of employees who are out of work and are accused of participating in the aggression (a term launched by the militias on the Arab alliance), within a maximum of one week, to take the required actions against them, and vowed to take the necessary action against those who procrastinate or refrain from implementing the order.

This decision coincides with the recognition of Abdul Aziz bin Habtour, head of the Houthi coup government in Sana’a, that the salaries of employees go to the fronts of fighting against the legitimate government, and the Arab alliance, which he described as aggression, saying: “We seek to secure part of the salary, and the other part goes to the fronts to confront aggression.”

“We now have more than 45 open military frontiers along the geography, the Yemeni offer and the fronts beyond the borders, all of which require support and logistical support,” he said in response to a question about the salaries with the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar.

For his part, the Yemeni media person, Ahmad al-Mokash, leader of the Popular Congress Party, reduced the importance of the step taken by the leaders of the militias, noting that the regular government employees are not paid salaries. He also indicated that the group lives in a state of severe financial deficiency because of the large losses suffered on the fronts of the fighting, pointing out that Yemeni employees working in government departments within the areas controlled by the militias live in a poor state.

He added in special statements to the Reference that the Houthi militias are now dependent on the funding of their troops on the royalties imposed on traders and dealers, in order to meet the increasing expenses of its fighters who are fighting against the forces of legitimacy and mutual resistance.

The leader of the Popular Congress Party in Yemen said that the Houthis impose their votes under various slogans, sometimes in the form of taxes or customs, sometimes in the name of war effort, or cleanliness of cities, or under the name of performance of the duty of Zakat.

This decision is not the first of its kind. Last May, after the crackdown on them, the Houthi militias decided to write off more than 70,000 civil servants and deprive them of half of the salaries promised by government officials in their areas of control after they stopped paying their salaries for some time.