Houthis Continue to Consolidate Control in Yemen

During the last fortnight, Yemen's Houthi movement has continued to expand and consolidate its control over the country's central and western regions, as well as in the capital Sana'a. In particular, the group pushed further southwards to capture Radmah in Ibb province on October 29, and eastwards to Marib, on the fringes of the Empty Quarter desert. The group had earlier captured the western Red Sea port of Hodeidah on October 15. In a sign of their growing confidence, Houthi leaders have also brushed off threats of UN sanctions. "We are not afraid of the United Nations or any tyrant entity," said Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in a public speech (Press TV [Tehran], November 4).

As well as seizing territory, the Houthis have also continued to attack and harass their long-time Sunni rivals, Islah (the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood). In Ibb city, on October 31, Houthi fighters attacked Islah's provincial headquarters, leading to fighting in which at least three people were killed (Middle East Online, November 1). Two days later, on November 2, armed Houthis raided two Islah buildings in Sana'a, kidnapping three students. A Houthi spokesman said that the various raids had been conducted as part of a search for weapons. In a related move intended to strengthen their support in Sana'a at the expense of Islah and its supporters, the Houthis have also been offering tours of General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar's opulent house to demonstrate the wealth enjoyed by the former regime. Mohsen, a pro-Islah ex-ally of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and a long-standing opponent of the Houthis, had fled to Saudi Arabia when the Houthis seized the capital in September. Separately, the Houthis' political coalition, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), has sought in recent days to strengthen its overall political position by building stronger relations with southern separatist groups, notably offering them increased ministerial positions in the government (Yemen Times, November 4).

At the same time, however, the Houthis have continued to encounter significant resistance during recent weeks as they move beyond their traditional, mainly rural, strongholds in Yemen's remote north. In the Jebal Ras area of Hodeidah governorate, in western Yemen, several days of fierce fighting took place in early November between the Houthis and hardline Sunni militants (al-Bawaba, November 4). Heavy fighting with militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) also occurred in late October in al-Baydha governorate, notably around al-Manaseh (Yemen Times, October 27). Meanwhile in the key central city of Taiz, Houthi fighters were deterred from entering the city after the local military commander entrenched his forces in the area and the city's governor refused the group's requests to enter the city (SABA News Agency [Sana'a], October 27]. In another blow, Muhammad Abdul-Malik al-Motawakal, a centrist politician from the Union of Popular Forces party, who had recently mediated between the Houthis and the country's government, was assassinated in Sana'a on November 2. In southern Yemen too, the Houthis' overtures to local leaders have not been always welcomed; a group of 15-20 Houthi tribesmen were arrested by local militias as they arrived in Aden governorate on October 31 and they remain detained by the local authorities (Yemen Times, November 4). These developments underline that while the Houthi movement continues to make significant territorial and political gains throughout much of Yemen, it is facing increasing political and military resistance as it moves out of its traditional strongholds, a trend that is likely to continue in coming months.

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