| Houthi insurgency |
|---|
| Part of the Yemeni crisis and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict |
Houthi militants, September 2015 |
| Date | 18 June 2004 – 16 September 2014
(10 years, 2 months, 4 weeks and 1 day) |
|---|
| Location | |
|---|
| Result |
Houthi victory
|
|---|
|
| Belligerents |
|---|
|
Yemen
- Security Forces
- Sunni tribes
- Al-Islah militias
Saudi Arabia |
Houthi Movement
Yemen (pro-Saleh forces) |
al-Qaeda
|
| Commanders and leaders |
|---|
|
Abdrabbuh Hadi
(2012–2015)
Hameed Al-Qushaibi †
Ali Abdullah Saleh
(2004–2012) †
Mohammed Basindawa
(2011–2014)
Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar
(2004–2014)
Ali Muhammad Mujawar
(2007–2011)
Abdul Qadir Bajamal
(2001–2007)
Ahmed Saleh
(2000–2012)
Yahya Saleh
(2001–2012)
Amr Ali al-Uuzali †
Ali Salem al-Ameri †
Ahmed Bawazeir †
Khalid bin Sultan
(2011–2013)
Saleh Al-Muhaya
(2009–2011) |
Abdul Malik al-Houthi
Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi †
Yahia al-Houthi
Muhammad al-Houthi
Abdul-Karim al-Houthi
Abdullah al-Ruzami (POW)3
Abu Ali al-Hakem
Yusuf al-Madani
Taha al-Madani
Abu Haider †
Abbas Aidah †
Mohammad Abd al-Salam
Ali al-Qantawi †
Fares Mana'a4
Ali Abdullah Saleh (alleged from 2014 until his death in 2017)
Ahmed Saleh (alleged from 2014)
Yahya Saleh (alleged since 2014) |
Nasir al-Wuhayshi †
Qasim al-Raymi
Nasser al-Ansi †
Ibrahim al-Rubaish †
Khalid Batarfi
Harith bin Ghazi al-Nadhari † |
| Strength |
|---|
|
Yemen:
30,000 soldiers in-theatre
66,700 total
27,000 tribal fighters
Saudi Arabia:
100,000 deployed
199,500 total |
Houthis
2,000 (2004)
10,000 (2009)
100,000 (2011) |
- |
| Casualties and losses |
|---|
|
Yemen:
1,000–1,300 killed
6,000 wounded
(Yemeni claim)
2,600–3,000 killed
8,000 wounded
(Independent estimates)
495 captured
(all released)
Saudi Arabia:
133 KIA
470 WIA
6 MIA/POW |
3,700–5,500 rebels and civilians killed
3,000 arrested |
- |
|
Total casualties:
Hundreds to thousands killed (humanitarian organizations), 25,000 (Houthi sources)
2,000 Sa'dah residents handicapped
250,000 Yemenis displaced
1.General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar in charge of Yemeni operations against the Houthis until 2011 when he deserted.
2.Sheikh Badreddin al-Houthi died of natural causes in November 2010
3.Sheikh Abdullah al-Ruzami turned himself in to the authorities in 2005, but later he was released
4.Sheikh Farris Mana'a was a government ally until his arrest in 2010, after which he endorsed the Houthis and was appointed to head their administration. |
The Houthi insurgency, also known as the Sa'dah Wars, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis that began in northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war. The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty.
Initially, most of the fighting took place in Saada Governorate in northwestern Yemen, but some of the fighting spread to neighbouring governorates Hajjah, 'Amran, al-Jawf and the Saudi province of Jizan. After the Houthi takeover of the capital city Sanaa in late 2014, the insurgency became a full-blown civil war with a major Saudi-led intervention in Yemen beginning in March 2015.