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The Houthi movement has broadened its recruitment efforts to offset mounting casualties on the front lines. According to local and human‑rights sources, the group has targeted security personnel, prisoners, and detainees in the capital Sana’a and other provinces. In a recent operation, Houthi commanders reportedly gathered hundreds of traffic police and road‑security officers from Sana’a, Dhamar and Ibb. The officers were taken from their posts, assembled in a Sana’a square, armed, and then transported in batches to combat zones in Taiz, Al‑Hudaydah and the western coast. The move is described as an attempt to replenish Houthi ranks after sustained losses. The movement also tried to recruit inmates from the Central Prison in Sana’a. Sources say that the Houthi security leadership offered release in exchange for joining the fight in Taiz, Al‑Jawf and the western coast. Only about 42 prisoners accepted the offer; the majority declined. Human‑rights observers note that the offers were accompanied by threats of punishment, restrictions on visits, and limited financial assistance, which they characterize as coercive. The recruitment drive is said to have been overseen by Houthi security leaders who infiltrated the traffic police administration. “Bikel Al‑Brachi, who pretends to be the general manager of the traffic police, and Najeeb Al‑Asadi, the appointed general manager of traffic in the occupied capital, led the operation,” a local source told Al‑Sharq Al‑Awsat. The same source added that the Houthi movement had previously moved units known as “traffic control units,” headed by Abdul Karim Al‑Houthi, the Houthi‑appointed interior minister in the unrecognised government, to front lines in Al‑Dali, Ma’rab, Taiz, Al‑Jawf and the western coast. The Houthi leadership has said that the militias are experiencing unprecedented human depletion. “The losses in the last months have exceeded our capacity to replace fighters,” a source close to the Houthi leadership in Sana’a told Al‑Sharq Al‑Awsat. The group is reportedly preparing to train new recruits in intensive, rapid‑cycle courses before sending them to the front lines, without regard for their suitability or willingness to fight. A former prisoner at the Central Prison in Sana’a said that inmates are not offered genuine release deals. “They are subjected to extortion. The Houthi militias want them to go to the front in exchange for release, and those who refuse face further pressure and punishment,” he told a human‑rights organization. A relative of a detainee expressed concern that release could become a pretext for sending prisoners into combat rather than returning them to their families. A human‑rights activist in Sana’a described the practice as a form of forced recruitment, arguing that “the so‑called agreements are not voluntary but imposed under psychological and humanitarian pressure, turning prisons into a source of fighters and stripping detainees of basic legal and human rights.” Article source: Al Awsat | Image credit: Al Awsat
The Houthi movement has broadened its recruitment efforts to offset mounting casualties on the front lines. According to local and human‑rights sources, the group has targeted security personnel, prisoners, and detainees in the capital Sana’a and other provinces. In a recent operation, Houthi commanders reportedly gathered hundreds of traffic police and road‑security officers from Sana’a, Dhamar and Ibb. The officers were taken from their posts, assembled in a Sana’a square, armed, and then transported in batches to combat zones in Taiz, Al‑Hudaydah and the western coast. The move is described as an attempt to replenish Houthi ranks after sustained losses. The movement also tried to recruit inmates from the Central Prison in Sana’a. Sources say that the Houthi security leadership offered release in exchange for joining the fight in Taiz, Al‑Jawf and the western coast. Only about 42 prisoners accepted the offer; the majority declined. Human‑rights observers note that the offers were accompanied by threats of punishment, restrictions on visits, and limited financial assistance, which they characterize as coercive. The recruitment drive is said to have been overseen by Houthi security leaders who infiltrated the traffic police administration. “Bikel Al‑Brachi, who pretends to be the general manager of the traffic police, and Najeeb Al‑Asadi, the appointed general manager of traffic in the occupied capital, led the operation,” a local source told Al‑Sharq Al‑Awsat. The same source added that the Houthi movement had previously moved units known as “traffic control units,” headed by Abdul Karim Al‑Houthi, the Houthi‑appointed interior minister in the unrecognised government, to front lines in Al‑Dali, Ma’rab, Taiz, Al‑Jawf and the western coast. The Houthi leadership has said that the militias are experiencing unprecedented human depletion. “The losses in the last months have exceeded our capacity to replace fighters,” a source close to the Houthi leadership in Sana’a told Al‑Sharq Al‑Awsat. The group is reportedly preparing to train new recruits in intensive, rapid‑cycle courses before sending them to the front lines, without regard for their suitability or willingness to fight. A former prisoner at the Central Prison in Sana’a said that inmates are not offered genuine release deals. “They are subjected to extortion. The Houthi militias want them to go to the front in exchange for release, and those who refuse face further pressure and punishment,” he told a human‑rights organization. A relative of a detainee expressed concern that release could become a pretext for sending prisoners into combat rather than returning them to their families. A human‑rights activist in Sana’a described the practice as a form of forced recruitment, arguing that “the so‑called agreements are not voluntary but imposed under psychological and humanitarian pressure, turning prisons into a source of fighters and stripping detainees of basic legal and human rights.”
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