Houthi Militia Group in Yemen: 3 Facts You Didn't Know

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The name of the Houthi militia group often appears in the news regarding the conflict over power in Yemen.

This Shia / Shiite minority group, as reported by Reuters, is fighting against the Yemeni government, which is supported by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi and the UAE are Sunni countries, which have provided refuge to a number of high-ranking Yemeni officials who fled Houthi attacks.

The Houthi group is often associated with Iran, which is a Shiite country. In the fighting in Yemen, the Iranian military is said to be supporting the Houthis with intelligence information and weapons.

The following are a number of things about the Houthi group as reported by Conversation:

1. Social Roots

The Houthi group is part of the Zaydi branch of the Shiite group. Since the 9th century AD or the last thousand years, there has been an area in northern Yemen controlled by Zaydi leaders.

In 1962, Yemeni troops trained by Egypt attacked this area and overthrew the Zaydi kingdom and established the Republic of Yemen.

The Zaydi community is the majority in the north, west and the capital Sanaa despite the merger with South Yemen in 1990. However, in Yemen's total population, which numbers around 14 million people, the Zaydis are a minority religious group. According to CIA data in 2010, 65 percent of Yemeni citizens were Sunnis and 34 percent Shiites. 1 percent consists of Jews, Bahais, Hindus and Christians.

2. Resistance

This began to happen in the 1990s when Salafi and Wahhabi teachings were introduced, which a cleric brought to northern Yemen. This figure opened a religious school and taught Salafi teachings based on understanding in Saudi Arabia.

A man named Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi emerged, who was the son of the famous Zaydi figure.

The Houthi surname then has become the identity of the Zaydi community. Meanwhile, the name Zaydi itself comes from the name of a descendant of Ali Bin Abi Talib (the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the fourth Rashidun caliph, who ruled from 656 to 661, as well as the first Shia Imam), namely Zayd. Zayd's descendants became the Sada clan of Yemen. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is from this clan.

3. Houthi group

The Houthi group as a political and military entity began when Hussein al Houthi joined the Believing Youth organization in early 2000. He brought this organization to be critical of the Yemeni government at that time which was close to the West.

Yemeni forces try to capture Hussein al Houthi, who was killed in an armed incident. His position was replaced by his father and then his younger brother, Malik Badreddin al-Houthi. Malik transformed this group into a powerful military force.

The Houthi group began to have the combat capability to repel air and ground attacks by Saudi Arabian troops in 2010. They then began to expand and control wider areas in Yemen as far as Sanaa. Currently, according to UN data, the number of Houthi troops reaches around 75,000. There are indications that these troops receive Iranian military support through the supply of missiles and military drones.

TEMPO.CO

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