Yemen's capital Sanaa is facing a looming bread shortage after the terrorist Houthi militia shut dozens of bakeries in a campaign to extract illegal payments from owners, targeting even charitable bakeries that feed poor families while forcing others to use low-quality flour.
Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi-controlled industry and trade authorities had deployed about 12 inspection teams since the middle of last week to raid, shut down and extort money from some 78 bakeries in the Maeen and Al-Wahda districts, citing alleged violations of bread weight regulations.
Bakery owners said the inspections were a pretext to impose more levies and force them to fund the Houthi war effort under threat of closure.
Only 25 of the 78 shuttered bakeries have reopened, after their owners were forced to pay. The rest remain closed and subject to restrictions, fueling fears that the crackdown could spread to other neighborhoods, further disrupting bread production and deepening residents' hardship.
Although Houthi inspection teams said the campaign was aimed at enforcing weight regulations, they also targeted charitable establishments known as "bakeries for the poor," demanding zakat payments despite having no authority to collect the Islamic charitable levy.
The crackdown on charitable bakeries has deprived hundreds of poor and displaced families of bread they once received free or at discounted prices.
Bakery owners in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that harassment and extortion had intensified, accusing the Houthis of turning bread production into a source of revenue.
The demands include contributions to the war effort under the banner of "supporting the front lines," as well as funding mobilization and recruitment campaigns.
Owners said the mounting costs threatened their ability to stay in business.
Residents reported dwindling bread supplies and visible shortages in several neighborhoods, warning that prolonged closures would hurt more than bakery owners.
The Houthis also face accusations of increasingly exploiting regulatory bodies under their control to squeeze money from the remaining businesses, imposing ever-higher levies instead of policing markets, protecting consumers, improving product quality and keeping prices stable.
The practices threaten one of the most essential staples in Yemeni households, adding to the strain on residents.
Beyond the closures, bakery owners in Sanaa said the Houthis had forced them in recent weeks to buy poor-quality wheat flour, some of it stored for years in warehouses belonging to the Houthi-run Zakat Authority, and mix it with the white flour used to make bread and pastries.
Bakers condemned the orders, saying they showed disregard for potential health risks to consumers.
The measures coincided with a surge in white flour prices, with bags now costing several times their previous prices.
Bakery owners said the mounting levies and restrictions, which threatened to bankrupt them, had left them with little choice but to accept and use the poor-quality flour.
With product quality deteriorating and customer demand falling, workers in the bread industry fear their businesses could collapse.
