(United Nations) Yemen’s Houthi rebels are transforming into a “powerful military organization” expanding its operational capabilities, thanks to “unprecedented” military support, notably from Iran and Hezbollah, warns a report by experts from the UN published Friday.
Published yesterday at 8:13 p.m.
Since the start of the war in Gaza a year ago, the Houthis, who control large swaths of Yemen, have “exploited the regional situation and strengthened their cooperation with the “axis of resistance”” which unites Iran and groups like Palestinian Hamas or Lebanese Hezbollah, write the experts mandated by the UN Security Council.
In this context, “the Houthi movement has gone from a local armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organization, which has extended its operational capabilities well beyond the territories it controls”, according to the report which focuses on the period from September 2023 to the end of July 2024.
A transformation enabled by “the transfer of equipment and the assistance and training provided by the Al-Quds Force”, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, by Hezbollah, and by pro groups -Iranians in Iraq, they believe, referring to the establishment of “joint operational centers” in Iraq and Lebanon to “coordinate joint military actions”.
“The scale, nature and volume of transfers from external sources of various military equipment and technologies to the Houthis, including financial support and training of fighters, are unprecedented,” worry the experts.
Based on testimonies from military experts, Yemeni officials and those close to the Houthis, the experts judge that the Yemeni rebels do not have “the capacity to develop and produce complex weapons systems”, such as certain missiles that ‘they use to target ships in the Red Sea.
On the other hand, they note “similarities between the different equipment used by the Houthis and that produced and used” by Iran and pro-Iranian groups.
Experts also indicate that for several years, Houthi fighters have received “tactical and technical training outside Yemen”, notably in Iran and in Hezbollah training centers in Lebanon.
The group of experts also believes that Hezbollah is “one of the main supporters of the Houthis”, and that it is also involved in their “decision-making structure”, in supporting the assembly of weapons systems , in financial support, “indoctrination of young people” and “media propaganda”.
The report also describes how Yemeni rebels used the argument of solidarity with the Palestinians to launch a “vast recruitment campaign.” Estimates cited in the text indicate a number of fighters of 350,000 in mid-2024, compared to 220,000 in 2022 and 30,000 in 2015.
“If the Panel was unable to itself confirm the number of new fighters, a mass mobilization would be a cause for concern,” he writes, noting that although the new recruits will probably never go in Gaza, “on the other hand, they could be pushed to fight the Yemeni government”.
He mentions recruits among young people and children, but also among Ethiopian migrants in an irregular situation forced to join their ranks, and mercenaries from Ethiopian tribes.
The report is also concerned about “increased” collaboration between the Houthis and terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, with whom they are now allying against the forces of the Yemeni government. Finally, experts observe a strengthening of ties with the Somali radical Islamist group Shebab, with a transfer of weapons in both directions.
“According to confidential sources, in order to expand their area of operation, the Houthis are studying the possibilities of carrying out attacks at sea from the Somali coast,” which would explain their rapprochement with the Shebab, writes the report.
