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| Arabia |
| Houthi militants take control of Raydah |
| 2014-02-10 |
| [Yemen Post] 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 rustics should the Zaidi group overstepped once more over al-Ahmar's territories, reports have confirmed that Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America", Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ... gunnies 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 gunnies 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. |
| Posted by:Fred |