Is Washington supporting the Houthis to counter al-Qaeda?

Yemenis consider the recent financial support provided by the United States to the Houthis to get rid of mines in Yemen as strong support for the militia, and activists do not consider this support as encouragement for the militia to continue its killings and sabotage against the Yemeni people and their resources.

Not the first time

On the night that the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, fell into the grip of the Houthis, the Western embassies at the time, including the American one, with all their staff, were operating in their normal position without showing any signs of concern, at a time when the Houthis had spread throughout the capital and stormed ministries, state institutions and the parliament and the seat of government, but they did not approach the US embassy and the embassies of other Western countries.

After that, the official spokesman for the Houthi group at the time, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, told one of the news channels that the militia did not enter Sanaa except after coordination with some embassies, including the American embassy.

Military coordination

American drones have continued to bomb several Yemeni sites during the last period, although it is known that the drones do not move from their naval bases except after coordination with the operations rooms located in Sanaa, the National Security building, the Ministry of Defense and General Staff building, and these institutions are now under the complete control of the Houthis, which means that coordination between the two sides has become a reality and not just rumors.

The French website Intelligence Online revealed earlier that the CIA station in Sanaa had received directives from Washington to intensify its cooperation with the Houthis regarding the gathering of intelligence on al-Qaeda in Yemen.

US military officials had stated that Defense Department employees are still on the ground in Yemen carrying out the task of combating terrorism even after the departure of the embassy staff, which means, according to observers, that the officers would remain in Yemen only after the approval of the Houthis.

Al-Qaeda is the reason

Yemeni political analyst Ayman Khalafallah said that it is well known that the United States focuses all its goals in Yemen on fighting and getting rid of al-Qaeda, because it is currently one of the organization’s most powerful branches, and in this case the Houthi militia is considered a savior for Washington.

Khalafallah confirmed in a special statement to the Reference that the Houthi militia has become one of Washington's arms in Yemen to strike al-Qaeda and the Sunni organizations and factions in Al-Bayda, Hodeidah and many other governorates. He added that the greatest evidence of this is the militia's intensification of its operations against al-Qaeda for a long time in Al-Bayda Governorate in particular, as it is one of the governorates in which al-Qaeda is most concentrated.