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Who Are The Houthis?
The Houthis' origins date back to the 1990s, the year North Yemen and South Yemen were unified into a single country. Under Hussein al-Houthi, Al-Shabab al-Muminin (The Believing Youth) - the predecessor of Ansar Allah, i.e. the Houthis- began as a youth-based revivalist group, consisting of religious Yemenis from a Shia Muslim sect known as the Zaydis.
Formerly a majority, they now sought to restore Zaydism to the glory of its old days within a changing landscape in which they felt discriminated against by the Republic’s new leaders and where they were up against Saudi-backed Wahhabis and Salafists that were cropping up rapidly everywhere.
The Believing Youth initially had the support of the Unified Republic of Yemen’s first President, Ali Abdullah Saleh. When he first assumed the presidential position in 1990, the CIA had predicted he would not last even six months in office, given that he was taking charge of a position which led to the assassination of the last two Presidents, including his predecessor, Ahmad-al-Ghashmi. He went against these odds by being re-elected in 1982 and 1999.
The Start of Houthi Rivalry with the Yemeni government:
The alliance or, at the very least, tolerance between the Houthis and the Saleh government faced its first test in the aftermath of 9/11 in 2001. As the US began its War on Terror in the West Asian region, it turned to Saleh, who became an ally by allowing American military and special forces to operate within Yemen in their crackdown on the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda.
As a group fundamentally opposed to foreign influence and one that modelled itself after post-Islamic Revolution Iran, the Houthis became deeply critical of Saleh, whom they accused of pandering to American Imperialism in a Muslim land. Meanwhile, the US presence in the region continued to grow further when American military forces invaded Iraq just 18 months later.
In response, Al-Houthi adopted a chant that, to this day, remains the party’s slogan, emblazoned on its flag: God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory to Islam. However, the main target of this chant at this time was Saleh himself as he became an increasingly autocratic leader trying to silence dissent through an aggressive military campaign against the Houthis.
In 2004, the Saleh government entered into a conflict with the Houthis, called the Saada war, which continued in six rounds until 2010. The Saada war began in June 2004 after several Houthi protestors stormed into a mosque in Saada in a critique against the Saleh regime for cooperating with the United States.
Where does Saudi Arabia stand in this?
By the sixth round of the war in 2009, the Houthis grew in force as they gained more supporters and their mission evolved from Zaidi revivalism to an anti-Saleh stance. They became critical of Saudi Arabia in November 2009, convinced that the country was in cahoots with the Saleh government. In response, they invaded Saudi Arabia, killing soldiers and taking hostages.
Thus, Saudi Arabia directly became involved in the conflict, with Riyadh launching its first major military operation in a decade on the southern border, hitting the Houthis with airstrikes. Like the Saleh government, Saudi Arabia also claimed that the Houthis were backed by Iran- a charge that they denied.
The intense Saada wars abated around 2011 as Saleh’s government had to redirect their focus to more pressing issues at home. The entire region was undergoing major political upheaval as one country after another rebelled against its regime in a movement later known as the Arab Spring.
Yemen, which at the time was one of the poorest countries in the world, where 40% lived on $2 a day, also joined the wave of uprisings by protesting against Saleh, whom they saw as an autocratic and corrupt ruler who had embezzled away their oil revenues in the 33 years of his power. The Houthis, who had been fighting the Saleh government for over a decade, also joined the movement.
As the protests grew, Saudi Arabia, with UN aid, brokered a GCC deal with Saleh, granting him immunity in exchange for resigning and handing over power to his Vice President, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who formally took office in February 2012.
However, Saleh retained considerable influence over the military and political establishment, while Hadi struggled to address Yemen’s economic problems and regional divisions. The transition failed to resolve the Houthis’ grievances, and the weakening government gave them an opportunity to expand their control.
The Start of Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia assembled a coalition of Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and launched a military intervention to restore President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi’s government. The campaign began on March 26 with extensive airstrikes against Houthi-controlled territory. The United States supported the coalition with intelligence sharing, logistical assistance and weapons sales.
Earlier, in September 2014, the Houthis had seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, by joining forces with their former foe, Saleh, whose military forces aided the operation. By early 2015, they had taken control of key government institutions and advanced towards Aden, forcing President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia. For Riyadh, the prospect of an armed movement with growing ties to Iran was a serious security concern, leading to the failed intervention in 2015.
What followed became a prolonged war that turned into a widely condemned humanitarian crisis with continuous Saudi airstrikes and restrictions on imports, leading to the deaths of more than 377,000 Yemeni civilians by 2021.
What is Happening Now?
Since the breakdown of the UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022, Houthis and Saudi Arabia have renewed fighting amid greater regional instability in the wake of the US-Israel-Iran war. On October 10, 2026, the Houthis launched strikes on King Khalid International Airport, killing 12 people and injuring 309, including four Saudis and nationals of the United States, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
However, this is not the first time that they have attacked Riyadh’s airports. From 2017 to 2019, they repeatedly struck airports among other areas. Each time, Saudi Arabia responded with counterstrikes within 24 hours.
Like clockwork, the same has happened this time with Saudi Arabia launching airstrikes on Sanaa, a Houthi stronghold, with missiles directed at Sanaa International Airport on October 11. While the casualties have not been completely disclosed by Houthis, some reports have mentioned that an attack on the Bab Shu’ab neighbourhood in central Sanaa injured six people, including a woman and a child. A Yemeni military official speaking anonymously also said Saudi warplanes had struck Houthi reinforcements in Taiz province, leaving dozens of fighters dead or injured.
The United States has condemned the attack on Riyadh, but is still on the fence about providing manpower in the form of military aid to Saudi Arabia. While Saudi Arabia is a key US ally in the region, Washington might be taking a cautious stance given its previous experience fighting the group.
In late 2023, the Houthis began attacking Southern Israel with drones and missiles, vowing to continue until Israel stopped its invasion of Gaza. Most significantly, they began blockading the Red Sea, which saw traffic decrease by 73%, a big fall, given that 25% of global container traffic is carried through this route. The US has tried to stop the blockade since then by intercepting Houthi missiles at ships going through the Red Sea, but has been unsuccessful in its attempt.
For now, the US seems to be observing the situation and letting Saudi Arabia take the call. In early comments on the Houthi strikes on King Khalid airport, President Donald Trump only spoke of taking a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Similarly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed condolences to the victims and their families and reaffirmed US solidarity with Saudi Arabia.