...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...
rebels south of the port of Hodeida on Yemen's west coast, medics and security sources close to the faceless myrmidons said on Friday.
The reports came as the Uited Nations refugee agency UNHCR warned of a new displacement of civilians in the area.
The security sources said the air strikes on Thursday and Friday hit five towns controlled by the Houthis around 70 kilometres south of Hodeida.
Medical sources said 28 Houthis were killed and 17 others maimed in the strikes.
There has been no let-up in the air campaign against the rebels that a Saudi-led coalition has been waging since March 2015.
The air strikes have intensified since the December 4 killing of ex-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...at the hands of the Houthis after his alliance with the rebels collapsed.
At the same time forces of the Yemeni government have stepped up attacks on the rebels and last week retook the Red Sea town of Khokha from the Houthis.
The security sources said new festivities broke out on Friday as government forces tried to push towards Hodeida.
UNHCR said it was "bracing for further displacement and a spike in humanitarian needs as hostilities intensify in frontline areas on Yemen's west coast".
Hodeida is the main conduit for UN-supervised deliveries of food and medicine but the rebel-held port is controlled by the Houthis and remains closed, forcing the UN to divert aid supplies to other areas.
"To date we have deployed emergency relief items for 2,000 families in Hodeida, and a further 2,000 aid kits are on their way along with 2,000 emergency shelter kits," the UNHCR said in a statement.