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Houthi-controlled Yemen constitutes the areas ofYemen under thede facto governance of theHouthis, aZaydi Shiarevivalist political and military organization. Sincetheir takeover in September 2014, the Houthis have maintained control over significant portions of northern and western Yemen, including the capital,Sanaa. Their administration, theSupreme Political Council, operates inopposition to theinternationally recognized government of Yemen.[1][2][3] The Houthis aim to govern all of Yemen and support external movements against theUnited States,Israel, andSaudi Arabia.[4] Because of the Houthis' ideological background, the conflict in Yemen is widely seen as a front of theIran–Saudi Arabia proxy war.[5]
In September 2014, during theYemeni civil war, Houthi insurgents ousted presidentAbdrabbuh Mansur Hadi from the capital, Sanaa. ASaudi Arabian-led military intervention in 2015 aimed at restoring Hadi's government, but several proto-state entities claim to govern Yemen.[6][7][8][9][10] At least 56,000 civilians and combatants have been killed in armed violence amid theYemeni civil war since January 2016.[11] The war has resulted in afamine affecting 17 million people.[12] The lack of safe drinking water, caused by depleted aquifers and the destruction of the country's water infrastructure, has also caused the largest, fastest-spreadingcholera outbreak in modern history, with the number of suspected cases exceeding 994,751.[13][14] Over 2,226 people have died since the outbreak began to spread rapidly at the end of April 2017.[14][15] The ongoinghumanitarian crisis and conflict has receivedwidespread criticism for having a dramatic worsening effect on Yemen's humanitarian situation.
The Houthis, a Zaydi Shia movement fromnorthern Yemen, have been involved in conflicts with the Yemeni government since the early 2000s, especially with former Yemeni presidentAli Abdullah Saleh. However, their influence expanded dramatically during the 2014–2015 takeover, when they seized Sana’a and forced PresidentAbdrabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee. This led to a military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies in 2015, sparking a prolonged and devastating war.[16][17][18]
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After seizing the capital in September 2014, theHouthis obtained the resignations of PresidentAbdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Prime MinisterKhaled Bahah, and the cabinet in January 2015 and then moved to dissolveparliament and instated theSupreme Revolutionary Committee to govern their territory of Yemen on 6 February 2015.[19][20] However, despite their military successes and an alleged alliance with the former rulingGeneral People's Congress,[21][22] the Houthis faced widespread domestic and international opposition to the coup and they assented to United Nations–led talks on a power-sharing deal.[23][24] At least one analyst went so far as to suggest the Houthis' declaration "fizzled" in the days after it was announced, although they haveAli Abdullah Saleh's political support.[25]
On 21 February 2015, one month after Houthi militants confined him to his residence inSanaa, Hadi slipped out of the capital and traveled toAden, the capital of the formerPeople's Democratic Republic of Yemen. In a televised address from his hometown, he declared that the Houthi takeover was illegitimate and indicated he remained the constitutional president of Yemen.[26][27][28] Hadi's ex-ministers were released by the Houthis on 16 March as a "goodwill gesture".[29] On 21 March, Hadi officially proclaimed Aden to be the temporary capital of Yemen, until his pledged recapture of Sana'a.[30] Within days, however, aHouthi-led military campaign wrested much of southern Yemen from Hadi's loyalists, prompting Hadi to flee his presidential palace in Aden[31] andSaudi Arabia tolaunch airstrikes against Houthi positions throughout the country.[32]As of March 2025, the Houthis control Sana'a, the capital and largest city of Yemen, as well as most of the country's northwestern region, including the Red Sea coastline.[33][34][35]
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