US designates Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist group

 In a move to minimize presence of terrorism in the Arab nations, the United States has declared Yemen based Houthis as terrorist group. The Yemeni government has welcomed the decision saying that the Houthis ‘deserved to be classified as terrorists’.

With only 10 days remaining for Joe Biden to take over the White House, the Trump administration decided to declare the Houthi militia, who have been spreading violence and torturing the Yemenis for more than six years, as a foreign terrorist organization. Houthis are backed by Iran and all violent attacks in Yemen have been reportedly funded by the government of Iran.

“The Houthis deserve to be classified as a foreign terrorist organization not only for their terrorist acts, but also for their permanent efforts to prolong the conflict and cause the worst humanitarian disaster in the world,” said the ministry in a statement.

The Houthi representative and political commander, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, condemned the move saying that the US policies represent a different way of thinking. He expressed his disapproval though his twitter account.

For years, Yemen has been witnessing instability in the administration resulting in a massive humanitarian crisis. The United Nations also categorized the struggles and situation in Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis ever to have existed. The Houthis have been in constant fight against the present government, reportedly backed by the Saudi government.

The US secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced the declarations saying, “The Department of State will notify Congress of my intent to designate Ansar Allah, sometimes referred to as the Houthis, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. I also intend to designate three of Ansar Allah’s leaders, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”

Houthi has been controlling the majority of the areas in Yemen. These are essentially the areas where even the movement of people is threatened by frequent attacks by the rebel group. A report by the UN revealed that nearly 12 million children were affected by the attacks executed by Houthis, which got worse with the outbreak of Covid-19.

Houthis have been receiving a lot of support from Iran, which despite downing under the sanctions imposed by Iran, keeps supplying aids and funds to the now designated terrorist group. The terror group has been shamelessly violating human rights. Women and children have been tortured to death in areas controlled by Houthis.

They have also denied aids that were sent by the UN for women and children during struggling times. This led to a sudden increase in the hunger index graph of Yemen. Not only this but the group has bombed many houses, destroying thousands of households in the country. They have splurged all of the wealth they get from Iran in carrying out anti-government activities and taken a violent route to security officials, who were upheld for the security of civilians.

Houthis have also destroyed most places of worship and carried out persecution of religious minorities. Even the media is not safe in the areas under Houthis. They have violated freedom of expression and speech of journalists who have reported against them.

The truth about Abdul-malik Al-Houthi, son of Badreddin al-Houthi, came out in the open when it was revealed that in the name of protecting ‘their people’ Houthis were committing gross crimes against women and Yemeni civilians in general. Last year in December, Houthis had beaten a woman to death in front of her four children.

The Victim’s husband complained against Houthis saying, “Where are those claiming to support the oppressed? They killed the mother of my children. My children have become orphans. Where is the ‘master’ who claims to support justice?” the husband said, referring to the Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al Houthi.”

Since 2015, when Houthi barged into the Yemeni parliament and forced itself upon the people of the country, the citation in Yemen has become worse. Even now the country is under the worst cholera outbreak ever to have been recorded in human history.

This declaration by the US is sure to lessen their control over major states of Yemen and will also put an alarm over the funding they receive from Iran through various channels. Though this decision was taken just 10 days ahead of Trump’s exit, an extension of the announcement will reportedly be continued by the president-elect Joe Biden.