Houthis Admit to Pursuing Greater Weapons Capabilities

A shipment of grain is unloaded at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. Reuters
A shipment of grain is unloaded at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. Reuters
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Houthis Admit to Pursuing Greater Weapons Capabilities

A shipment of grain is unloaded at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. Reuters
A shipment of grain is unloaded at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. Reuters

Houthi coup militias in Yemen claimed responsibility for terror attacks that killed dozens in the last two months. Boasting about the militia’s missile, rocket and drone capabilities, a senior Houthi spokesman said Iran-armed group can strike targets inside neighboring Saudi territory.

In parallel to Houthi militiamen scaling up attacks that violate a UN-brokered ceasefire deal for the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, coup leaders are openly debating on how to distribute illegitimately collected levies at docks and whether or not the money should be used to pay salaries to Houthi gunmen.

Houthi spokesman and it’s the group’s acting foreign minister, Mohamed Abdel Salam Fleeta, touted Houthi weapons capabilities as efficient enough to stage further terrorist attacks against civilian targets inside Saudi Arabia.

In a tweet, Fleeta said that information revealed at another Houthi officer’s presser shows the "qualitative development" the pro-Iranian group war tactics have seen.

Houthi officer Yahya Saree had listed the outcome of two months of continuous terrorist attacks waged by Houthi gunmen against civilians in Yemeni governorates such as Taiz, Ad Dali' and Hajjah, or in cross-border offensives striking inside Saudi territory.

Saree acknowledged that the group is responsible for launching more than 347 terrorist attacks within the last 60 days, and admitted to actively pursuing to boost military capabilities.

Nevertheless, the Houthi officer failed to mention great losses incurred by the insurgency group at the hands of qualitative strikes spearheaded by the pro-government national army and adjunct Arab Coalition forces.

As for details on the group’s decision to acquire advanced weapons systems, Houthi leadership said its army engineers are close to drafting a new collection of Iran-made drones and ballistic missiles to the insurgency’s depots.

According to reports published by the militia’s official media outlets, the new arms additions will be put to display at an exclusive exhibition named after the late coup leader, Saleh Ali al-Sammad.

This comes at a time Yemen is suffering the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, Houthis’ persistent looting of internationally-sent relief aid and raiding of the countries public institutions.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.