Yemeni Analyst: Internal Conflict Record within Houthi Militia Exposes Their Corruption and Terrorism 

A state of confusion and turmoil is gripping the terrorist Houthi group among its leadership as they vie for control over funds and positions. The scope of conflicts has widened among the wings of the Houthi terrorist militia, Iran’s arm in Yemen. This comes amid a rise in assassinations targeting several leaders and decisions to remove them from leadership positions.

Assassinations and Conflicts

During the first two weeks of August, separate incidents occurred in the provinces of Sanaa, Ibb, and Ma’rib. These events included internal purges that reflected the intensifying conflicts between various factions within the Houthi militias, particularly between the Sa’dah and Sanaa factions. These events involved four assassinations, along with an attack on and arrest of a leader in Ibb, a siege in Sanaa, a narrowly escaped assassination attempt, and the death of some associates. Additionally, a series of dismissal and removal decisions were issued by Houthi leadership affiliated with both factions during this period.

Internal Upheavals

In the latest of these incidents, armed individuals ambushed Houthi leader Ibrahim Al-Qashar on the Al-Hatarsh road north of Sanaa and shot him, resulting in his immediate death.

Houthi gunmen assaulted a Houthi security leader named Sakhr Sadiq Hamza, who had impersonated the role of the security director of the Madhiqra district, after he was caught smuggling wanted individuals. The gunmen abducted the security leader and imprisoned him in a Houthi jail in the province.

Simultaneously, Houthi leader Ismail Al-Jarmouzi revealed that military units affiliated with the so-called Special Security Forces had surrounded his home in Sanaa for days. He accused Houthi Interior Minister Abdul Karim Al-Houthi of sending these units, despite the fact that Al-Jarmouzi’s only son, “Mujahid,” has been fighting with the militias for the past seven years.

Conflict Record

Abdul Hafiz Nahari, a Yemeni political analyst, states that the internal conflict record within the Houthi militia is not limited to assassinations alone. He notes a recent development involving the dismissal of numerous second and third-tier leaders from their positions in Sanaa and several provinces under their control.

He adds that, during this period, open mutual accusations have resurfaced among Houthi leaders regarding massive corruption and embezzlement of Yemeni funds, as the Yemeni people endure a humanitarian catastrophe ranked among the worst in the world.

He further explains that this comes amid the escalation of disputes and conflicts within Houthi factions, where looting operations and wealth accumulation for top militia leaders have escalated to the point of physical purges.