The Houthi insurgency,[43][44] also known as the Houthi rebellion, the Sa'dah War, or the Sa'dah conflict, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis (though the movement also includes Sunnis[45]) against the Yemeni military that began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war. The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty.[46]
Quick Facts Date, Location ...
Houthi insurgency |
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Part of the Yemeni Crisis and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict |
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Houthis_protest_against_airstrikes_4.png/220px-Houthis_protest_against_airstrikes_4.png) Houthi militants, September 2015 |
Date | 18 June 2004 – 16 September 2014 (10 years, 2 months, 4 weeks and 1 day) |
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Location | |
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Result |
Houthi victory
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Belligerents |
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Yemen
Saudi Arabia Supported by:
Jordan[9]
Morocco[10]
United States[11][12] |
Houthi Movement
Yemen (pro-Saleh forces) Alleged support by:
Iran[13][14]
North Korea[15][16][17]
Libya (until 2011, alleged) [18] |
Ansar al-Sharia
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Commanders and leaders |
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Abdrabbuh Hadi (2012–2015)
Hameed Al-Qushaibi †[20]
Ali Abdullah Saleh (2004–2012) †
Mohammed Basindawa (2011–2014)
Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (2004–2014)
Ali Muhammad Mujawar (2007–2011)
Abdul Qadir Bajamal (2001–2007)
Ahmed Saleh (2000–2012)
Yahya Saleh (2001–2012)
Amr Ali al-Uuzali †[citation needed]
Ali Salem al-Ameri †[21]
Ahmed Bawazeir †[21]
Khalid bin Sultan (2011–2013)
Saleh Al-Muhaya (2009–2011) |
Abdul Malik al-Houthi[22]
Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi †
Yahia al-Houthi
Muhammad al-Houthi
Abdul-Karim al-Houthi
Abdullah al-Ruzami (POW)3
Abu Ali al-Hakem
Yusuf al-Madani
Taha al-Madani
Abu Haider †
Abbas Aidah †
Mohammad Abd al-Salam
Ali al-Qantawi †
Fares Mana'a4[4]
Ali Abdullah Saleh (alleged from 2014 until his death in 2017)
Ahmed Saleh (alleged from 2014)
Yahya Saleh (alleged since 2014) |
Nasir al-Wuhayshi †
Qasim al-Raymi
Nasser al-Ansi †
Ibrahim al-Rubaish †
Khalid Batarfi
Harith bin Ghazi al-Nadhari † |
Strength |
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Yemen: 30,000 soldiers in-theatre[23] 66,700 total[24]
27,000 tribal fighters[25]
Saudi Arabia:
100,000 deployed[26]
199,500 total[24] |
Houthis
2,000 (2004)[27]
10,000 (2009)[28]
100,000 (2011)[29][30] |
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Casualties and losses |
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Yemen: 1,000–1,300 killed
6,000 wounded[31][32][33] (Yemeni claim)
2,600–3,000 killed
8,000 wounded[34] (Independent estimates) 495 captured (all released)[34][35][36][37]
Saudi Arabia:
133 KIA[38]
470 WIA[citation needed]
6 MIA/POW[38] |
3,700–5,500 rebels and civilians killed[citation needed]
3,000 arrested[39] |
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Total casualties:
Hundreds to thousands killed (humanitarian organizations), 25,000 (Houthi sources)[40]
2,000 Sa'dah residents handicapped[41]
250,000 Yemenis displaced[42]
1.General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar in charge of Yemeni operations against the Houthis until 2011 when he deserted.
2.Sheikh Badreddin al-Houthi died of natural causes in November 2010
3.Sheikh Abdullah al-Ruzami turned himself in to the authorities in 2005, but later he was released
4.Sheikh Farris Mana'a was a government ally until his arrest in 2010, after which he endorsed the Houthis and was appointed to head their administration. |
Close
Initially, most of the fighting took place in Sa'dah Governorate in northwestern Yemen, but some of the fighting spread to neighbouring governorates Hajjah, 'Amran, al-Jawf and the Saudi province of Jizan. After the Houthi takeover of the capital city Sanaa in late 2014, the insurgency became a full-blown civil war with a major Saudi-led intervention in Yemen beginning in March 2015.[47]