Who Are the Houthis, Iran-Backed Militia Entering Mideast War?
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- Houthis announced a blockade on ships linked to Saudi Arabia and struck cargo vessels in the Red Sea, entering a widening Middle East war.
- Yemen's government accused Houthi forces of striking the cargo ship Tihamah in the Bab al-Mandab Strait on Tuesday, killing at least six people, and said the vessel carried food supplies.
- The Houthis confirmed targeting a ship in the Bab al-Mandab Strait but claimed it was carrying "Saudi military equipment," directly contradicting the Yemeni government's account.
- Yemen has been effectively divided since a 2022 truce, with the Houthis controlling large swaths of the north and the Saudi-backed government holding other territory.
- Yemeni government forces launched counterattacks in response to Houthi missile and drone strikes on government-controlled cities, threatening to tip the country back into full-scale war.
- The Yemen conflict has produced one of the world's worst humanitarian crises over more than a decade of fighting, according to the report.
Why it matters: A renewed Yemen civil war would deepen one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and further threaten Red Sea shipping already under Houthi attack. The competing claims over the Tihamah — food supplies per Yemen's government, Saudi military equipment per the Houthis — show both sides framing each strike as justification for escalation, making de-escalation measurably harder.
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