Houthis redeploy military communication networks in Hodeidah
Well-informed sources have revealed that Houthi militias have reinstalled military communication systems on major towers in Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, six months after dismantling them following U.S. airstrikes.
According to the sources, the Houthis have redeployed and reassembled cellular antennas and military communication devices on the main towers across the province, located in the country’s western region.
Houthi telecommunications engineers were seen in recent days reinstalling aerial antennas, jamming stations, and military guidance and transmission equipment on key communication towers in the governorate.
The sources added that this measure affected most of the city’s main towers, including those in the Jizan neighborhood, the main telecommunications center, Kilo 7, the July 7 district, Ghaleel, and another tower near the Political Security (intelligence) buildings.
Exploiting a period of calm
A security source said that “the Houthis appear to feel safe from any potential U.S. or Israeli airstrikes after the recent de-escalation in Gaza, which the group used as an opportunity to halt its own attacks.”
In April, the Houthis had begun dismantling these military systems after they were targeted by the United States, whose air raids destroyed several telephone exchanges and communication networks in various provinces.
At that time, U.S. strikes destroyed the communications and ground-broadcast center at Jabal Waqer in the Bur’a district east of Hodeidah, as well as towers in Amran, Jabal Ba’dan in Ibb, Saada, and Sanaa, as part of a broader strategy to dismantle command-and-control centers and disrupt the militias’ encrypted networks, according to observers.
Exploiting landline cables
In parallel, local and media sources reported that Houthi militias have removed landline telephone cables in several provinces, including Al-Mahwit, Hajjah, Amran, and Sanaa, in an effort to repurpose them for military communications.
The sources noted that the militias dismantled landline cables in the Bani Al-Haytham area of the Al-Rajm district, cutting service to thousands of households.
Military sources had previously said that the Houthis have recently relied on landline telephones — based on independent copper-based infrastructure — for their military communications to avoid tracking by their adversaries.
According to the same sources, reconnaissance cameras operated by government-aligned forces documented the Houthis’ use of landlines at several advanced military positions, after they had extended wired connections directly to active frontlines.
The Houthis’ shift to wired telephone networks follows their earlier use of a mix of wired, wireless, and encrypted systems that were often subject to interception.
The sources added that the Houthis have begun implementing a communication model similar to that used by factions in Gaza, which relies on converting old landline networks for military use, amid growing fears of American and Israeli technical and security breaches.
