...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
militias rallied their supporters in the capital Tuesday, pledging that backers of former President former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...were safe despite his death at the hands of the krazed killers.
Thousands of Yemenis gathered near Sanaa International Airport shouting "Sanaa is free and the state still stands!" and "Yemenis are one!," as militia chiefs addressed the crowd, many of whom waved the national flag.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, who heads the terrorists’ revolutionary council, told the crowd the Houthis had been left with no choice but to "confront" their former ally but were now "ensuring the safety" of members of his General People’s Congress party.
"They are being treated in hospitals and no one is looking to eliminate them," Houthi said.
Tuesday’s rally struck a decidedly conciliatory tone after days of intense festivities between the Houthis and Saleh supporters left residents fearing their neighborhoods had become a new front in the Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
war.
Sanaa was quiet on Tuesday after five days of fighting, and UN and Red Thingy flights have landed at the airport, the UN said on Tuesday.
Street battles in the capital had stopped despite 25
s overnight, UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen Jamie McGoldrick said.The funeral of Saleh was expected later on Tuesday.
His family’s allies have battled the Houthis since last week, a dramatic turn in a conflict that had been largely stalemated for much of the past three years.
The UN says a food shortage caused by warring parties blocking supplies has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Millions of people could die in one of the worst famines of modern times.
"People are now emerging from their houses after five days being locked down basically as prisoners," McGoldrick told a regular UN briefing, speaking by phone from Sanaa.
"They are now seeking safety, moving their families in case things erupt again and at the same time seeking medical treatment and trying to pacify very terrified kids who have endured five days of relentless shelling, shooting and ground fire and airstrikes."
The airstrikes overnight struck government buildings, palaces and bridges, and people were now bracing themselves in case of more fighting or airstrikes, McGoldrick said, describing the situation as "very uncertain times."
McGoldrick had no details of Saleh’s funeral later on Tuesday and did not know if it would coincide or clash with an event planned by the Houthis to celebrate his killing. He said there had been a report that there would be a ceremony around the main mosque, and the UN mission should avoid the area because of traffic.
The International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) said that as many as 234 people have been killed in Sanaa street fighting this month between the Houthis and Saleh supporters.
The ICRC said on Tuesday that another 400 people have been maimed in the festivities, which first erupted last week.
It’s not clear how many civilians are among the dead.