Houthi gunmen storm major port in west Yemen

Al-Houthi gunmen yesterday stormed Al-Hudaydah port, a major harbour in the west of Yemen, local officials said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Anadolu Agency that “Houthi gunmen in three cars broke into the port today in a provocative step and in light of the inability of the security agencies to do their work.”

Abdul Rahman Shoie, a leader of the Tahami Movement, explained that the Houthi move aims to drag the region into the violence and to “seize the country’s resources”.

Shoie told Anadolu that “this action is unacceptable, and the security authorities should remove themselves from the region if they are incapable of protecting it and both El-Hirak and the Tahamis will defend their territory against any armed attack.”

The Tahami Movement was established in early 2012 to fight for the rights of the Tohama region, which they say has been marginalised and deprived of any services. The Tohama area consists of the Al-Hudaydah province as well as districts in the Hajjah province, west of Yemen.

Local residents said the Tohamis set up a number of checkpoints in the streets of Al-Hudaydah, and raised its flags on a number of buildings which Houthis had tried to control over the last few days, including the “historic castle” that overlooks Al-Hudaydah coast on the Red Sea.

In a press statement earlier, Fares Al-Saqqaf, adviser of the Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, said: “The Houthis are seeking naval port on the Red Sea.”

Houthi leaders did not respond to Anadolu calls to comment on these developments.