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| Yemen as of April 2015 |
The Houthis are followers of the Shia Zaidi sect, the faith of around a third of Yemen’s population. Officially known as Ansarallah (the partisans of God), the group began as a movement preaching tolerance and peace in the Zaidi stronghold of North Yemen in the early 1990s.
After some protests pitted it against the government, the group launched an insurgency in 2004 against the then ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh that lasted till 2010. Their opponents view them as a proxy of Shia Iran. The group is hostile to the United States but has also vowed to eradicate al-Qaeda. They participated in the 2011 Arab Spring inspired revolution in Yemen that replaced Saleh with Abdrahbu Mansour Hadi.Shia rebels and their allies have captured the presidential palace in Aden following heavy clashes in the commercial centre of this southern coastal city.
Who are fighting whom?
› Houthis:
The rebel group controls nine of 21 provinces as of Apr 2015
› Saudi-led coalition:
Saudi Arabia:
UAE:
Bahrain:
Kuwait:
Qatar:
Jordan:
Sudan:
Egypt:
› Yemeni security forces:
The military is now split as units that support Mr. Hadi, units that support the Houthis, and units that support a still-influential Saleh, who is in the Houthi camp for now.
› Popular Resistance
- Committees:Militia loyal to Hadi in his stronghold of south Yemen.
- AQAP: Mr. Hadi and Houthis are fighting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has staged several attacks in the country and is strong in the south. Active since 2009.
- IS: A new group of militants inspired by the Islamic State group has claimed major attacks.
- U.S : CIA drones have continued to target top AQAP leaders, but the campaign has suffered from Mr. Hadi’s absence.
