Houthis announce victory after seizing control of Sanaa

Leader of the Houthi rebels Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi hailed on Tuesday his movement’s seizure of large parts of the Yemeni capital after four days of fighting last week.

Rassd News Network quoted Al-Houthi as saying that the battle that led to his supporters’ control over Sanaa was a “successful revolution for all Yemenis”.

According to Anadolu news agency, he appeared on television for the first time since taking Sanaa.

The Houthis have been fighting the Yemeni government for decades, but are now controlling sensitive facilities, including the Central Bank and several military bases, in the capital.

On Sunday, Yemeni President Abed-Rabbu Mansour Hadi signed an agreement to share authority with the Houthis after they seized the capital in a battle that killed about 200 people.

Supporters of the Houthis had spent weeks protesting and calling on the current government, which they described as “corrupt”, to resign and as well as to cancel the recent fuel price hike.

Rassd News Network further quoted the Houthi leader as saying: “Great efforts were exerted to make this achievement. The efforts came in response to all Yemenis calling for achieving popular demands… It is in this way that the successful revolutions make their achievements—they make their achievements for all people.”

Al-Houthi said that the agreement reached with the president includes deceasing fuel prices and introducing economic reforms to lower the costs of life for the poor.

“This is what the people needed—a change of government. The people called for deposing it because it had failed to fulfil their demands,” he added.