Increase in Child Abductions in Sanaa amid Houthi Silence… What is the Role of the Muslim Brotherhood?

Recently, there has been a significant rise in child abductions and disappearances in areas controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, especially in the occupied capital, Sanaa.

Social media has been flooded in recent days with reports of children being kidnapped or disappearing from their homes, neighborhoods, and streets in Sanaa, while the Houthi-affiliated authorities—widely suspected of being behind these crimes—remain silent.

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According to the local news outlet Al-Muntasaf, families of missing children, despite their immense suffering, fear speaking out due to the Houthis‘ brutal retaliation. The militia accuses anyone addressing the issue of tarnishing their image to serve the enemy’s agenda.

Local sources confirmed to the news site that the Houthi authorities have shown no response or action in searching for the abducted children, nor have they arrested any of the criminal gangs that operate freely in Sanaa and other Houthi-controlled cities.

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These sources indicate that most of these gangs involved in child kidnappings are either affiliated with the Houthis or enjoy protection from high-ranking militia officials. They also highlight the involvement of female operatives in carrying out these crimes.

A climate of fear and panic is spreading among residents of Sanaa, Ibb, and other Houthi-controlled provinces as child abductions increase, while Houthi authorities remain silent—further solidifying suspicions of their direct involvement in these crimes.

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Local sources in Taiz and Marib have revealed that the covert and overt collaboration between the Al-Islah party (the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood) and the Houthis facilitates an official cover for the trafficking of kidnapped children from Houthi areas to be smuggled abroad.

According to Al-Muntasaf, two individuals were arrested in Taiz while attempting to obtain forged travel documents to smuggle children. Additionally, security forces in Sanaa received 33 reports of missing children within just 24 hours.

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The sources link these mass child abductions—particularly in Houthi-controlled areas—to the issuance of passports from territories under Al-Islah‘s control in Taiz and Marib.

Furthermore, reports suggest that the Houthis, in collaboration with the Muslim Brotherhood, use border crossings to smuggle kidnapped children or traffic human organs harvested from abducted minors or wounded fighters—whether from their own ranks or captured enemies.

Houthi-controlled border areas with Saudi Arabia, particularly Al-Raqu in the Munabbih district of Saada province, are among the primary routes used for smuggling children, organs, drugs, and even trafficking women and young boys for sexual exploitation.

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