Despite repeated warnings from high ranking state officials, Houthi militants (Shiite group under the leadership of Abdel-Malek al-Houthi) have continued to march closer to the capital, Sana’a.
If the Shiite group stood some 50 kilometres away from Sana’a earlier this week, it is now standing a meagre 20 kilometres away near Qaratel Mountain. While the coalition government has been keen to downplay Houthi advances over the past months, always arguing that the group would never dare engage Yemen military in a direct fight as it stood no chance of victory, no official has managed to this day to broker a lasting truce.
It all started back in late October when months of tensions and territorial bickering with Salafi militants came to a mighty clash in northern Dammaj, a Houthi stronghold in the province of Sa’ada. The Houthis justified their attack by alleging that the Salafis had been using their Dar al Hadith religious centre as a para-military training camp for Jihadists.
Tensions rose further when al-Islah and tribesmen affiliated to al-Ahmar, the Houthis’ political and tribal nemesis came to support the Salafis. Since then the Houthis have been relentless in their advances; to such an extent that they managed to seize control over territories traditionally under al-Ahmar control (Yemen’ most prominent tribal clan) in the northern province of Amran, which sits directly north of the capital.
Following a lull in fighting, violence resumed last week after Saudi Arabia announced it had decided to brand both the Houthis and the Muslim Brotherhood (a sub-faction of al-Islah) terror organizations.
On Thursday an estimated six Houthi militants and two soldiers were killed near Qaratel.