By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-04-27

ADEN -- As the Houthis come under fire from a US air campaign, the Iran-backed group has widened its campaign of arbitrary arrests and abductions to include some of its own senior leaders, analysts said.

The Houthis have increased the pace of their arrests since the US air campaign began in mid-March, and recently detained a senior member of the group, political analyst Faisal Ahmed told Al-Fassel.

In an unusual move, the group raided the home of its own deputy intelligence chief, Abdul Qader al-Shami, accusing him of transmitting coordinates for the targets of US strikes, according to local media.

Al-Shami belongs to the Hashemite clan of the group's leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Ahmed said, noting that the arrest of a well-positioned senior official confirms "the state of strife and disarray the Houthis are experiencing."

By March 27, the Houthis had kidnapped more than 75 people, most of them in Saada city, Asharq Al-Awsat reported.

The group also detained five bank employees at checkpoints as they attempted to leave Sanaa following the US decision to re-designate the Houthis as a terrorist group and ban transactions with banks in Houthi-controlled areas.

In response to the US action, eight banks announced their intention to relocate from Sanaa to Aden. This prompted the Houthis to issue a decree banning all bank employees from traveling to government-controlled areas.

"Some bank employees were arrested because they attempted to leave Sanaa and move to work in banks in Aden," Ahmed said.

Abductions on the rise

The Houthis have a long history of targeting politicians, journalists, activists and local and international aid organization staff, said research project director Abdul Qader al-Kharraz of the Berlin-based Arab Democratic Center.

Kidnappings have increased significantly since the US strikes started on March 15, which left the Houthis "in a state of disarray" and fearful of any perceived betrayal that could lead to their targeting, he told Al-Fassel.

"Anyone they suspect, they kidnap simply for holding his phone and filming whatever is in front of him, even if he is not a journalist," al-Kharraz said.

"The entire population has become a target," he said. "If you are found to be carrying a phone while walking near targeted sites, this makes you a suspect and you may be arrested."

It also is possible the Houthis are targeting specific individuals within the group, "who come under suspicion on the grounds that the [strike] coordinates are sent by people close to them and working with them," he said.

"These locations are secret and only people within the group know about them."