Houthis

Why in news?

• A drone attack claimed by Yemen rebels on a Saudi oil refinery caused a fire.
• It was claimed by the Iran-backed Houthis, who are fighting a Saudi-led coalition.

Who are the Houthis, and why is there a war in Yemen?

• The Houthis are a large clan belonging to the Zaidi Shia sect, with roots in Yemen’s northwestern Saada province.
• Zaidis make up around 35 per cent of Yemen’s population.
• The Zaidis ruled over Yemen for over a thousand years until 1962, when they were overthrown and a civil war followed, which lasted until 1970.
• The Houthi clan began to revive the Zaidi tradition from the 1980s, resisting the increasing influence of the Salafists, who were funded by the state.
• In 2004, the Houthis began an insurgent movement against the Yemeni government.
• Several years of conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s Sunni majority government followed.

How did Saudi and UAE get involved in the war?

• In 2015, a nine-nation coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which received logistic and intelligence support from the United States, began a bombing campaign against the Houthis.
• The air attacks were in support of Hadi’s (Yemen’s President) forces, who were seeking to take back Sana’a from Houthi control.
• Riyadh and the west believe that the Houthis are backed militarily and financially by the regime in Tehran (Iran is Shia majority country).

PRACTICE QUESTION

Consider the following pairs:

Ethnic groups         : Region

1. Houthis                   : Yemen

2. Pashtuns                : Afghanistan

3. Kurds                      : Myanmar

Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer