...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 Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
militias are a constant threat to the Yemeni people, and "have been in contact with the Iranian regime since 1994," Col. Turki al-Maliki, front man for the Saudi-led coalition, said Wednesday.
At a presser in Riyadh, he showed through videos that the coalition continues to accurately target the Houthis and their arsenal of weapons, and avoid civilians.
The Houthis are hiding ballistic missiles in deep caves in the Sanaa mountain of Nahdain, and coalition forces are monitoring the area round-the-clock, he added.
The Houthis have fired 86 ballistic missiles at Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, and the latest attempt was thwarted, al-Maliki said.
He described as incorrect a statement by the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, that the coalition campaign has been a "failure."
All of Shabwa province is now liberated, and the coalition is fighting to oust the Houthis from the remaining 20 percent of al-Jouf, al-Maliki said.
While the Houthis are recruiting child soldiers, the coalition has launched a unit to help these children recuperate and reintegrate into civilian life, he added.
Saudi Arabia has provided the Yemeni people with aid by air, land and sea, and all ports are open and receiving humanitarian aid
, he said.Former Yemeni 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...lost his life protesting the Houthi presence, al-Maliki added.
The coalition is communicating with many officials in 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...who have expressed their willingness to desert the Houthis and join the legitimate government, he said.