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Power Struggles among Houthis Reach Leadership

Workers dispose of sacks of World Food Program (WFP) wheat flour which is reportedly expired or spoiled, on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen August 28, 2019. (Reuters)
Workers dispose of sacks of World Food Program (WFP) wheat flour which is reportedly expired or spoiled, on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen August 28, 2019. (Reuters)
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Power Struggles among Houthis Reach Leadership

Workers dispose of sacks of World Food Program (WFP) wheat flour which is reportedly expired or spoiled, on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen August 28, 2019. (Reuters)
Workers dispose of sacks of World Food Program (WFP) wheat flour which is reportedly expired or spoiled, on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen August 28, 2019. (Reuters)

The recent power struggle among the Iran-backed Houthis has, for the first time, threatened to reach the top leaders of the militias.

Informed sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that divisions have emerged among high ranking Houthis over the distribution of looted humanitarian aid, as well as levies imposed on the people.

Sources close to the Houthis have revealed that the brother of the militias’ leader, Yehya Badreddine al-Houthi, has stopped performing his duties as the education minister in the unrecognized Houthi government for some four months now.

They explained that disputes had erupted between him and head of the Houthis’ so-called higher council for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, Abdulmohsen al-Taous, and director of the coup ruling council, Ahmed Hamed. The disputes revolve around the distribution of humanitarian aid, which was originally delivered by United Nations agencies to the Yemeni people, but looted by the militias.

The sources said Yehya had returned to native Saada in wake of his acknowledgment in February of the Houthis’ corruption and looting of food relief. In Saada, he met his brother, Abdulmalek al-Houthi, the militias’ leader, in an attempt to win over his support against Taous and Hamed, but to no avail. Abdulmalek believed that siding with his brother would be an admission of the corruption among the militias, which would only serve their opponents.

In wake of this position, Yehya refused to resume his duties as minister and opted to remain at his home in Saada, said the sources. Moreover, they revealed that several Houthi officials had attempted to persuade him to return to his post, but failed.

Yehya, said the sources, is among the official most suspected of corruption and involvement in looting of humanitarian relief. They added that his insistence on remaining in Saada is just for show and an attempt to portray himself as an honest individual.

In a separate development, the Houthis’ so-called interior minister Abdulkarim al-Houthi, who is also Abdulmalek’s uncle, has tightened his grip over security agencies under his control in Sanaa in an attempt to eliminate all of his rivals.

Sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that a strong dispute erupted between Abdulkarim and Abdulmalek over the levies imposed by the Houthis on the people. Abdulkarim is accused of monopolizing the levies and refusing to share them.

Annoyed by the accusations and critical of how Abdulmalek issues his orders while laying low in the caves of Saada, Abdulkarim has sought to take decisions that favor his loyalists and shun his nephew’s supporters.

For the past two months, Abdulkarim introduced 44 changes in the positions of security chiefs in various provinces where he has appointed his loyalists to top posts, revealed the sources.

They interpreted his moves as a sign that he seeks to expand his power and lie in wait for the right moment to take out all rivals so that he alone can rule.

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Kurdish-Led Forces Push Back Turkish-Backed Syrian Opposition Faction in Tense Offensive

This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
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Kurdish-Led Forces Push Back Turkish-Backed Syrian Opposition Faction in Tense Offensive

This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Türkiye.

The SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist ISIS group scattered across the country's east.

Since the fall of the totalitarian rule of Bashar Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified between the US-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it.

The intense weekslong clashes come at a time when Syria, battered by over a decade of war and economic misery, negotiates its political future following half a century under the Assad dynasty’s rule.

Ruken Jamal, spokesperson of the Women’s Protection Unit, or YPJ, under the SDF, told The Associated Press that their fighters are just over seven miles (11 kilometers) away from the center of Manbij in their ongoing counter-offensive.

She accused Ankara of trying to weaken the group’s influence in negotiations over Syria’s political future through the SNA,

“Syria is now in a new phase, and discussions are underway about the future of the country,” Jamal said. “Türkiye is trying, through its attacks, to distract us with battles and exclude us from the negotiations in Damascus.”

A Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says since the SNA’s offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds started earlier this month, dozens from both sides have been killed.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on Tuesday with Turkish Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, according to Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. He said they discussed the ongoing situation in Syria, and Austin emphasized that close and continuous coordination is crucial to a successful effort to counter ISIS in the country. They also discussed the importance of setting the conditions to enable a more secure and stable Syria.

Ankara sees the SDF as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it classifies as a terrorist organization. Turkish-backed armed groups alongside Turkish jets for years have attacked positions where the SDF are largely present across northern Syria, in a bid to create a buffer zone free from the group along the large shared border.

While the SNA was involved in the lightning insurgency — led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — that toppled Assad, it has continued its push against the SDF, seen as Syria’s second key actor for its political future.

On Monday, the SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said the group's forces pushed back the Turkish-backed opposition fighters from areas near the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates, a key source of hydroelectric power. He said the SDF also destroyed a tank belonging to the opposition southeast of Manbij.

The British-based war monitor said on Tuesday that the Kurdish-led group, following overnight fighting, has reclaimed four villages in the areas near the strategic dam.

Turkish jets also pounded the strategic border town of Kobani in recent days.

During Syria’s uprising-turned-conflict, the Kurds carved out an enclave of autonomous rule across northeastern Syria, never fully allying entirely with Assad in Damascus nor the opposition trying to overthrow him.

Even with the Assad family out of the picture, it appears that Ankara’s position won’t change, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s landmark visit to Syria maintaining a strong position on the Kurdish-led group in his meeting with de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa of HTS.

“It has turned the region into a cauldron of terror with PKK members and far-left groups who have come from Türkiye, Iraq, Iran and Europe," Fidan said in a news conference after the meeting. “The international community is turning a blind eye to this lawlessness because of the wardenship it provides (against ISIS).”

With the ongoing fighting, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi has expressed concern about a strong ISIS resurgence due to the power vacuum in Syria and the ongoing fighting, which has left the Kurdish-led group unable to carry out its attacks and raids on the extremist group’s scattered sleeper cells.

Tens of thousands of children, family members, and supporters of ISIS militants are still held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria, in areas under SDF control.