Although it has been rumoured in the media that President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi warned Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, he would personally oversee a large scale military intervention against his tribesmen should the Zaidi group overstepped once more over al-Ahmar’s territories, reports have confirmed that Houthi militants managed on Wednesday to seize control of Raydah, a town located 60 Km north of the capital, Sana’a.
Reporters on the ground have confirmed that the Houthis have coordinated attacks against Arhab, further south from their Raydah stronghold.
From a pure military standpoint, the Houthis appear to have been working to clear an opening onto the capital. With Arhab sitting directly north of Sana’a, should the city fall to the Houthis, the Yemeni capital would stand a sitting duck at its northern regional borders.
Several tribal officials and politicians having warned over the past weeks that the Houthis would attempt to breach the capital. It is important to note that ever since 2011 uprising thousands of Houthi militants travelled from Sa’ada to Sana’a to maintain a presence within the capital. With men de facto within and without Sana’a the Houthis could in theory, attempt a coup d’état. That being said, assuming that their desire to diminish al-Ahmar and by extension, al-Islah’s pull in Yemen, will translate into a political takeover remains to be seen.
It is likely the Houthis aim only to assert themselves as a potent tribal and political force as to assert their position as Yemen is about to make the move from a presidential system to federalism.