Houthis: An Iranian mine that needs to be removed

Ali Ragab

September 21 is a black memory in the history of Yemen, where the capital Sanaa fell to the hands of the Houthis after raising slogans of revolution and refusing to increase prices. Today, the people are suffering from the terrorist militia’s power over state institutions in collusion with the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Al-Islah), the Brotherhood of Yemen.

On the fifth anniversary of the fall of Sanaa to the Iranian-backed militia on September 21, 2014, Yemenis launched the hashtag “#Nakba_21_September”.

Yemeni politician Mohammed Anam posted on Twitter that the Houthi legions of evil and terrorism swept Sanaa in 2014, killers spread throughout the streets of the city, and officials fled.

The spokesman for the National Resistance Forces, Colonel Sadiq Dowaid, said that the September 21 Nakba (catastrophe) had taken Yemen backwards, throwing the country into a disastrous quagmire of sectarianism, tribalism and despotism, causing the country’s worst humanitarian disaster.

Houthis’ crimes

“Since its early days, the militia has turned to terrorizing political parties” said Mohammad Azzan, founder of the Believing Youth Movement, adding that the militia then “launched a phase of political despotism that does not accept a partner… or dissenting opinion.”

Yemeni journalist Abdul Nasser al-Mamlouh described the Houthi militia as a “mine” planted by Iran, saying, “The biggest mine Iran has planted in Yemen; it must be dismantled and removed.”

Regarding the fate of the militia, the leader of the General People’s Congress, Kamel al-Khoudani, said, “What awaits the Houthis, their leaders, their masters and their mullahs in the coming period will make them see the last four years of war as a picnic against what will happen to them.”

The Houthis, who belong to the Zaydi Shiite minority, took control of most traditional power centers in northern Yemen, then entered Sanaa on September 21, 2014, before taking control of the western Red Sea port of Hodeidah on October 14 of that year.

On January 20, 2015, the Houthis took control of the presidential palace in Sanaa, forcing President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to the southern city of Aden.

On March 26, 2015, a Saudi-led coalition carried out air strikes on Houthi rebel positions in an attempt to stop their advance.

In July of the same year, the Hadi government announced that it had regained Aden province in the south, its first victory since the coalition intervention, and Aden then became the interim capital of the internationally recognized authority.

The coalition strengthened its air force with hundreds of ground troops, and by mid-August 2015, loyal forces had recaptured five southern provinces.

In August 2017, the Houthis accused their former ally, late President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the dispute developed into clashes between the Houthis and Saleh’s supporters by the end of November.

On September 20, 2019, the Houthis unilaterally launched a “peace initiative” by declaring a halt to attacks on Saudi Arabia, while their ally, Iran, is facing tremendous pressure over its alleged involvement in attacks against Saudi oil infrastructure.