The Houthi group is intensifying mobilization campaigns to attract new fighters in areas under its control. To support its fronts, which are witnessing heavy losses during the confrontations with the Yemeni army, and it is putting pressure on tribal sheikhs and neighborhood officials to recruit residents, who express great reservations that hinder mobilization efforts.
Local sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that last Friday, the group carried out a mobilization campaign entitled “Friday of the Forces,” and formed committees to collect data from worshipers from youth and children, and even from men of advanced ages, in a number of mosques in the kidnapped capital, after devoting the sermon to calling for the movement and enrollment in military courses.
According to the sources, the committees stood at the doors of the mosques and forced many worshipers to submit their statements and pledge to respond to the call of the movement and participate in training courses on the use of weapons and combat, and promised them financial incentives.
These movements coincide with the escalation of military operations in Taiz, Bab al-Mandab, Ma’rib, and Al-Jawf, at a time when field sources speak of human losses among the group’s ranks amounting to thousands of dead and wounded.
Mobilization efforts are not limited to public calls; Information from Sanaa indicates that the “Aqal al-Harat” was assigned to prepare lists of names of potential fighters, as part of efforts to expand the recruitment base.
Informed sources spoke of obliging neighborhood officials, known as “neighborhood heads,” to provide at least 10 people from each neighborhood.
Asharq Al-Awsat revealed, about two months ago, that the group arrested more than 30 neighborhood leaders and excluded 23 others, on charges of failing to meet the required recruitment quotas and donations.
Information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat sources indicates difficulties faced in implementing the recent assignments. Some neighborhood leaders were unable to register any new fighters, while others obtained limited approvals.
The neighborhood headman attributes their failure in these tasks to the refusal of the majority of families to send their children to the fronts, and to disputes with families who hold them responsible for the loss of their children in battles.
Although much information and facts indicate the widening of social reservations that hinder the Houthi group's ability to continue mobilizing and recruiting and hinder its mobilization efforts, it has not exhausted the means through which it can obtain new fighters.
In a speech on the third anniversary of the “October 7, 2023 attacks,” the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, called for continuing to support the fronts with money and men, as part of what the group describes as “general mobilization,” praising what he said were tribal movements to provide support to the fighters.
Various sources talk about the intensification of contacts between Houthi leaders and sheikhs in rural areas. With the aim of raising the level of tribal mobilization and providing new batches of fighters.
The group also organized mobilization events in areas it recently controlled on the western coast and Taiz Governorate (southwest), and claimed that they came at the initiative of local notables.
Local sources in the Al-Shamaytain and Al-Mawasat districts of Taiz Governorate revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the group’s supervisors asked the notables and sheikhs to help them recruit fighters, in conjunction with seeking to collect information about those who had previously joined the Yemeni army and received military training to benefit from their experience.
These practices prompted many young men who were part of the government forces in previous periods to flee towards the governorates of Aden and Lahj for fear of being forced to fight within the ranks of the group.
According to the sources, the Houthi supervisors asked the notables to help them recruit fighters and obtain donations, as a kind of return of the favor after the group took control of their areas, as the group claims to have liberated them from enemies.
Houthi mobilization and recruitment activities coincide with reports of heavy losses among the group's ranks during the recent confrontations in Taiz, Ma'rib, and Al-Jawf.
The Yemeni army announced the arrest of 5 of the group's security leaders on the western front of Taiz, including Akram Amer Al-Mutawakkil and Muhammad Saeed Al-Junaid, in addition to more than 60 militants in ambushes within 24 hours, according to its statement, and the army broadcast a video recording showing 5 people identifying themselves.
Field sources also spoke about the killing of Houthi leader Mujahid Ahmed Ali along with about 25 militants in the Al-Dhabab area, west of Taiz, and about the killing of Abdul Rahman Al-Maqdami, commander of what is known as the “127th Brigade Border Guard,” in a raid in the Al-Juba area in Ma’rib.
Other sources reported that about 50 members were killed, wounded, or detained in an ambush west of Taiz. International media reported that government forces announced the killing and wounding of about 50 Houthis in confrontations in the same area. The Yemeni army also announced, on Friday, that 16 Houthis were killed while repelling the attack south of Taiz.
Humanitarian pressures on the Yemeni city of Taiz are increasing as Houthi violations expand to include targeting residential neighborhoods and imposing restrictions on drinking water supplies, in conjunction with the continued siege and closure of roads, at a time when the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms documented the killing of 29 civilians and the injury of 36 others within 48 hours.
In the latest attacks, a woman was killed and three civilians were injured, as a result of Houthi bombing that targeted residential neighborhoods in the city of Taiz. A human rights source said that the bombing led to the death of Nadia Ali bin Ali Abdo Hassan (40 years old) in the Aqqa neighborhood, and the injury of three others in the areas of the Old Airport, Al-Thalatheen Street, and Al-Damina neighborhood, including those injured by shrapnel in the chest and back, and they were taken to the hospital to receive treatment.
In a development that exacerbates the suffering of the population, the Houthi group prevented the entry of drinking water tanks coming from the fog wells westward into the city through its military points, according to the local authority in Taiz, which considered the move an escalation that threatens to deprive hundreds of thousands of residents of one of their most basic basic needs.
The local authority called on the United Nations, the Security Council and international organizations to put pressure on lifting restrictions on entering water, opening roads, and ensuring the unhindered flow of food, medicine and aid. She said that deliberately depriving civilians of their basic needs constitutes collective punishment prohibited under international humanitarian law, calling for practical measures to be taken to protect the population.
In a separate report, the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said that it documented 170 Houthi crimes and violations during the past two days in Taiz, Aden, Sanaa, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf, Lahj, Al-Dhalea Ibb, and Amran, in addition to the launching of about 432 projectiles randomly.
According to the report, the violations resulted in the killing of 29 civilians, including four women and three children, and the injury of 36 others, including five women and four children, in addition to the kidnapping of 16 people, the raiding of about 61 homes, and the targeting of 23 homes by bombing. The attacks also included two health facilities, two mosques, Aden International Airport, and Ma’ashiq Palace.
The network also documented the killing of two travelers and the injury of others as a result of a Houthi mine explosion on Al-Yatma Road in Al-Jawf Governorate, while noting the continuation of the siege imposed on Taiz and the prevention of the entry of food, basic goods, fuel and medicines, which limits the population’s access to treatment and services and increases the risks of hunger and disease, especially among children, the sick and the most needy groups.
The human rights network warned of information it received about pressure on neighborhood leaders in Sanaa to prepare lists to register new fighters, in addition to information about the push towards forced recruitment of children.
The network called on the United Nations and the international community to condemn the violations and take action to protect civilians, lift the siege, open roads, and ensure safe and regular access of food, water, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid, calling for Taiz to be declared a disaster city and the expansion of the humanitarian response in proportion to the size of the needs.
As part of Egypt's efforts to stop the escalation in the region, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, on Saturday, called on Parliament to hold an emergency session to authorize it to take any measures that Saudi Arabia may request, stressing that Egypt “will implement any measure to defend the brothers in the Gulf.”
The Egyptian Parliament decided to hold a plenary session on Sunday, “in light of the president’s request.”
Since the beginning of the escalation in the region, Egypt has repeatedly affirmed its support for the security of the Gulf, but this is the first time that the Egyptian President has asked for Parliament’s authorization, which observers considered a confirmation of Cairo’s readiness to support its brothers in the Gulf and that its efforts fall within the context of defense and not attack.
During the graduation ceremony of a new class from the Military Academy in the New Capital, the Egyptian President affirmed that his country stands strongly in support of protecting the lands of the brothers in the Gulf, and said: “We are not looking for a role, but we cannot allow the security and stability of Saudi lands to be compromised.”
The Egyptian President called for an end to the war and escalation in the region, noting that “Cairo will implement any measure to protect and defend its brothers, in accordance with the directives of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the Kingdom’s Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” stressing that the Kingdom’s security and stability cannot be subject to leniency.
He added, "This issue requires ratification from Parliament," directing "a call for Parliament to hold an emergency session for authorization if we are asked to do so." He continued: “This talk does not target war or attack, but only defense.”
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed “the need not to forget the support that the Gulf countries have provided to Egypt since 2013, thanking the Gulf countries for the support.”
The Egyptian President has repeatedly stressed that “Gulf security is an integral part of Egyptian national security,” and that he “will not allow Saudi Arabia’s security to be compromised.”
In turn, the former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister, Ambassador Mohamed Hegazy, said that Al-Sisi’s statements regarding readiness to take measures to protect brothers in the Gulf states, if requested, “carry a clear political and strategic message, stating that Egypt views Gulf security as an integral part of the Egyptian and Arab national security system, and that Arab solidarity is not limited to political and diplomatic positions, but rather extends to readiness to bear responsibility when Arab countries are exposed to threats that affect their security and stability.”
Hegazy explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the president’s speech has a significance represented in his assertion that any possible Egyptian move will be within the framework of defense and protection, and based on a request from the brothers, and not with the aim of attacking any party or entering into an open military confrontation.”
He considered this “reflects the difference between having the ability to protect Arab interests and the desire for escalation,” and said: “The president’s speech confirms that force here is a tool for deterrence and protection, and not a goal for war and escalation, and within the framework of Egypt’s authentic Arab commitment to maintaining security and stability and preserving the capabilities of the countries of the region.”
The past months have witnessed Egyptian communications and efforts to stop the escalation in the region and condemn the attacks on the Gulf states.
A member of the Egyptian House of Representatives (the first chamber of Parliament), Mustafa Bakri, said that President Sisi’s talk about Egypt’s readiness to support Saudi Arabia, if it requests it, is an application of the “railroad distance” principle that the president had previously put forward and an affirmation that “Gulf security is an integral part of Egyptian national security.”
Bakri explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that calling Parliament to convene “comes out of respect for the Constitution, which requires Parliament’s approval to send forces outside the borders.”
Article 152 of the Egyptian Constitution stipulates that “The President of the Republic is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. He shall not declare war, nor send the Armed Forces on a combat mission outside the borders of the state, except after taking the opinion of the National Defense Council and the approval of the House of Representatives by a two-thirds majority of the members.” It adds that “if the House of Representatives is not in place, the opinion of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces must be taken, and the approval of both the Council of Ministers and the National Defense Council must be taken.”
The former Assistant Foreign Minister explained that the president’s reference to the necessity of convening the Egyptian parliament and granting the necessary authorization reveals “the importance of adhering to constitutional and institutional frameworks in decisions related to national security and the use of military force,” explaining that “the issue is not merely a declaration of a political position, but rather relates to measures of an important and strategic sovereign nature that require fulfilling the relevant constitutional and legal requirements.”
At the strategic level, Hegazy stressed that “Egypt realizes that any threat to the security of the Gulf states does not have repercussions on the countries concerned alone, but rather its effects extend to the security of the Red Sea, freedom of navigation, energy markets, and regional economic stability, in addition to its direct repercussions on Arab national security. Therefore, preserving the security of the Gulf represents a collective responsibility, duty, and common Arab interest, and not the responsibility of a specific country.”
