Daesh and Houthis demonstrate similarities, coordination

Mohamed Shaat

Similarities between the terrorist Daesh organization, on one hand, and the Iran-backed Houthi movement, on the other, abound. This is a fact demonstrated by the almost identical tactics of the two organizations: killing, the use of explosives and attacks against institutions and civilians.

This similarity makes one presume the presence of agreements between the two organizations as well. Daesh searches for new sources of support, especially after the losses it sustained in Syria and Iraq. Daesh also sustained losses because of the departure of some of its fighters to al-Qaeda.

Some documents revealed in the past few weeks also the presence of links between Iran and some terrorist organizations.

The Houthis, on the other hand, work tooth and nail to financially exhaust civilians and traders in Yemen by imposing fines on them and stealing humanitarian aid sent by the United Nations to the war-torn country. The Houthis also recruit children and put them in the middle of battles.

The Yemeni Interior Ministry had discovered the presence of coordination between al-Qaeda and Daesh in Yemen and the Houthi group, a ministry official said.

He added that Iran introduces funding for the terrorist organizations and the Houthis to maintain their coordination with the aim of preventing the Yemeni army from advancing.

“We have found proof that the three organizations coordinate between each other,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted Gen. Mohamed bin Aboud al-Sherif, the first undersecretary of the Yemeni Interior Ministry, as saying.

He added that the three groups coordinate to stage terrorist attacks and destabilize Yemen.

Child soldiers

The Houthi militia gives children the job of planting explosives. It uses a lot of tools to recruit these children, amid tough economic conditions throughout Yemen. These tough conditions were wrought on Yemen because of the practices of the Houthi group. Houthi policies led to the death of a large number of children. The Houthis also use religion in the mobilization of the Yemenis. They force the schools to specify special classes for the merits of jihad (holy fighting). The classes encourage school pupils to be part of the ongoing war in Yemen.

Daesh uses the same tactic to compensate its human losses. The terrorist organization is keen on the recruitment of children.

Explosive stones

To avenge itself against the background of the huge losses it is sustaining, the Houthi militia plants explosives that look like stones. By planting these explosives, the Houthis aim to inflict the largest damage and also kill the largest number of Yemeni civilians, especially in the areas they lose.

A huge number of mines that were haphazardly planted were found in the western Yemeni villages and towns that were liberated from Houthi control. The mines look like traditional stones.

Daesh followed the same tactic in the areas it overran in Syria and Iraq. The terrorist organization used explosive stones in the western countryside of Aleppo. Tahrir al-Sham also revealed that a large number of its commanders had been assassinated in the last few months because of the presence of a large number of remotely detonated explosives. The explosives, Tahrir al-Sham said, looked like traditional stones that were placed at the side of the roads or under the trees.

Commonalities

Both Daesh and the Houthis are about one and the same thing, said Col. Yehia Abu Hatem, a Yemeni military analyst.

He said both the Houthis and Daesh are radical and depend on religion to advance their own agendas.

The two organizations, Abu Hatem said, use the same tactics, especially when it comes to the recruitment of children and women and the kidnapping of media figures and journalists.

The two organizations also work to repress opposition and prevent it by all means, Abu Hatem said.