The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group is conducting maneuvers and preparing to stage a parade to commemorate the ninth anniversary of September 21, on which they took over Sanaa, sources close to the Houthi group told Sheba Intelligence on Monday.
In September 2014, the Houthis seized Sanaa forcefully and have been celebrating their takeover of Yemen’s capital as a popular revolution. However, their opponents, including the internationally recognized government, call the Houthi group’s seizure of Sanaa a coup that plunged Yemen into a cycle of violence.
With the ninth anniversary of September 21 approaching, Yemeni government forces say the Houthi mobilization of fighters is not to commemorate their seizure of Sanaa through a parade. However, it is to prepare for resuming the war in Yemen.
Informed source told Sheba Intelligence the Houthi military parade will show off the group’s missile capabilities, with the participation of about ten thousand recruits.
The recruits presently are doing military rehearsals in the Central Security and Rescue Forces headquarters in Sanaa. The Presidential Protection Brigades and the Al-Samad Brigade are carrying out maneuvers in Ibb Axis.
Sheba Intelligence obtained exclusive information, revealing that the Houthis are transporting naval missiles from the navy and coastal defense stores to various regions anddeploying maritime communications systems extensively.
In Al-Jawf province, local sources said that the Houthi group is transporting weapons and moving more widely in the province, which is located on the Saudi border and adjacent to the Ma’rib province, which houses oil and gas facilities and the main headquarters of the forces of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
The sources indicate that the group recently fixed a communications tower in Al-Jawf, which it had disabled when government forces took control of many districts of Al-Jawf in 2021.
These developments come in light of conflicting information about the success of the Omani mediator in persuading the Houthis to form a delegation to complete the negotiations with Saudi Arabia. The talks between Saudis and Houthis began with the visit of the Saudi ambassador, Muhammad Al Jaber, to Sanaa last April.
A source from the group says that there is Iranian pressure on the Houthi leadership to reduce escalation with Saudi Arabia in light of the continued improvement of relations between Riyadh and Tehran. However, the source pointed out that more Houthi military moves are likely to happen to achieve strategic interests related to controlling energy sources in Marib and Shabwa. According to the source, the Houthis seek to strike a favorable deal with Saudi Arabia, and they will continue their threat to oil ports and international trade lines in the Red Sea to achieve the gains they seek.
Since last year, the Saudi leadership has demonstrated more flexibility with the Houthi group. However, its backing for the UN-recognized government in Yemen has not shrunk. On Monday, the Saudi Defense Minister, Khalid bin Salman, confirmed the kingdom’s continued support for the Presidential Leadership Council and efforts to reach a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Yemen.
Bin Salman said in a tweet on the “X” platform that he had a telephone conversation with the head of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen, Rashad Al-Alimi, discussing the latest developments in Yemen.
While the Saudi-led Arab coalition has been seeking to end the conflict in Yemen through dialogue after years of costly military operations, the Houthi zeal for war has not declined, and their preparation for more battles remains in full swing.
