Spying teams … New Houthi technique to control Yemenis

Noura Bendari

The Houthis are applying Iranian techniques in Yemen with the aim of controlling people in the areas they control.

Houthi spies are present in almost all the cities they overran in the past few years. The spies tip the command of the Iran-backed militia about those opposing it, a move that usually precedes the imprisonment of these opponents.

Spying team

Employees at the Yemeni Communications Corporation have revealed information about the appointment by the Houthis of a team of Iranian, Yemeni and Lebanese engineers in the corporation. The team’s mission is to eavesdrop on the phone conversations of ordinary Yemenis in the areas the Houthi militia controls.

According to the employees, the team of engineers tracks the conversations and emails of Yemeni politicians and activists.

They said the presence of the team coincides with the ongoing Houthi escalation in Marib. It also comes as the Houthis sustain losses, they said.

They added that the team of engineers works to collect information about the Yemeni army and the army leadership, along with resistance to the Houthi occupation of Yemen.

Spying is rampant inside the Houthi militia. The militia uses this technique in collecting information about its opponents and the officers of the Yemeni army. Militia members also use the same technique in collecting information about each other.

Women cells

The Houthis enlist the services of women in its spying brigades along with men.

In February 2021, a senior police official in Marib revealed the presence of a secret Houthi apparatus that is active within humanitarian organizations. The humanitarian organizations, he said, work in the recruitment of women in poor families to enlist their services in gathering information about the opponents of the Houthi militia.