...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 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...has flared up again around the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, despite the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
calls for a ceasefire there, Yemeni officials and witnesses say.
Saudi-UAE coalition planes launched at least 10 air raids on positions held by the Houthis late on Monday, witnesses told Al Jazeera. The rebels fired artillery in response.
Earlier on Monday, Yemen's internationally recognised government said it would attend UN-backed talks next month to put an end to the violence. The announcement came hours after the Houthis said they were ready for a broader ceasefire, but only if the coalition forces backing the Yemeni government want peace.
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow, reporting from neighbouring Djibouti, said residents of Hodeidah spoke of the most intense fighting in days.
"Most of the fighting is happening around the 7th of July neighbourhood, about 4km from the port. The warring parties are using mortars and machine guns to attack each other since last night.
"The Houthis are adamant that they did not start the latest round of violence. One Houthi official we spoke to this morning said 'you will see these kind of flare-ups as we grow closer to peace talks, because everyone wants to come to these talks in a position of strength'," Adow reported.