Media: Houthis forge ties with Al-Qaeda and ISIS, exploit prisoners for combat

Yemeni Houthis, from the Ansar Allah movement, no longer treat members of Al-Qaeda and ISIS as ideological foes, instead using them as temporary assets to advance their military and political objectives. This development is highlighted in a recent report by the Crisis Monitor of the Yemeni PTOC Centre, as reported by Al Arabiya.

The report reveals that Houthis have transformed prisons into closed “laboratories” for terrorists, in blatant violation of international counter-terrorism laws.

The Houthi Security and Intelligence Service, led by Abdul Hakim Al-Hawani (also known as Abu Al-Karrar), conducts rigorous assessments in detention facilities to identify individuals eligible for reactivation. Those selected are provided with financial incentives — including salaries of up to $260 per month — alongside weapons and protection, in exchange for participation in combat operations across Marib, Al-Bayda, Shabwa, Abyan, and Hadramaut.

The report further explains that the Houthis have manipulated religious concepts such as “alliance of necessity” and “common enemy” to legitimise the integration of Al-Qaeda and ISIS operatives into their ranks. For the first time, it identifies a network of Houthi leaders orchestrating the recycling of these militants, overseeing their rehabilitation and redeployment.

According to the analysis, this strategy of “terrorist recycling” has facilitated the resurgence of sleeper cells and seriously destabilised security in previously liberated provinces. Some of the freed militants were directly involved in the fall of Marib, Al-Jawf, and Al-Bayda, resulting in mass population displacement and regional destabilisation.

The PTOC report concludes with a call for the international community to recognise the Houthis’ terrorist recycling strategy as a war crime, establish an international database of released individuals, strengthen oversight of Houthi detention facilities, and impose strict sanctions on the responsible leaders.

The committee also held Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accountable for backing this subversive project, which poses a serious threat to both regional and international security.

By Tamilla Hasanova