Houthi militias plunder Yemeni funds

Ali Ragab

The Houthi terrorist militias are levying more money from the Yemeni people in the areas under their control by raising fuel prices, which is a key resource for funding their military operations.

The Houthi militias raised the prices of household butane. The price of a cylinder (less than 20 liters) sells for 5,000 Yemeni riyals on the backdrop of a severe shortage of butane. In Sanaa, the price of butane canister has reached as high as 10,000 riyals on the black market.

The price hikes comes on the back of the Houthi rejection to unload fuel tankers at the port of Hodeidah, adding to the suffering of the Yemeni people.

CNN’s investigation found the issue affects many more than those in the capital. Some 33 areas in Yemen showed a wide gap between the amount of aid that has been officially delivered and the impact on the ground, according to internal aid documents reviewed by CNN.

Distribution lists had thumbprints, supposedly from people confirming receipt of food, but some 60% of beneficiaries numbering in the thousands in seven districts in the capital didn’t receive any aid.

Kamel Al-Khoudany, leader of Yemen’s General People’s Congress (GPC), said the Houthi terrorist militias steal the money of Yemenis and humanitarian relief to sell it on the black market for funding its terrorist operations.

“The Houthi militias steal under a number of forms such as zakat, war effort and taxes,” Al-Khoudany told THE REFERENCE.

“The Houthis have set up 46 fake organizations under their control,” he said, adding that Houthi militias should be uprooted so that life in Yemen would come back to normal.