- Vigil category device · not official insignia
Identity provenance
Vigil category device — drawn from this record’s own domain, echelon and role. Not an official insignia.
In brief
The military of the Houthi authority in Sanaa — an insurgent movement that inherited most of the Yemeni state's arsenal in 2014 and has since become a conventionalised force with its own missile, drone and coastal components, organised in seven military regions, and the one non-state actor in this module able to close a chokepoint.
- Scope
- Structure, role, lineage and links. 2 subordinate records published.
- Subordination
- Subordination unknown
- Sources
- 3 on the record
- Record state
- Partial
Broad area of activity
Northern and western Yemen, with reach across the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden
Notable history
When the Houthi movement took Sanaa in September 2014 it took most of the Yemeni state's armed forces with it, and a decade of war against a Saudi-led coalition turned an insurgency into something closer to a conventional military: a force organised in seven military regions with specialised departments for missiles and unmanned aircraft, a naval and coastal arm on the Red Sea, an intelligence service that watches the movement itself, and an underground defence industry near Sanaa and Saada. Its campaign against shipping from late 2023 drew American, British and European naval operations and Israeli strikes; in July 2026 it declared a blockade of vessels calling at Saudi ports, traffic through Bab el-Mandeb fell by about a quarter, and Saudi crude bound for Asia went the long way through Suez. Its relationship with Iran runs through the Quds Force and is real, contested in degree, and not what determines its targeting: the blockade serves Houthi objectives whether or not it serves Tehran's.
Strengths
Position at a chokepoint, a decade of surviving a far better-equipped coalition, and an arsenal — anti-ship and ballistic missiles, one-way attack drones, mines, small craft — that lets a non-state actor impose costs on global shipping.
Limitations
Its published strength figures are unverifiable and this module carries none; its recruitment includes documented child soldiers and coerced migrants; and its campaign has brought strikes on the ports and infrastructure the population it governs depends on. Attribution of its weapons' origin is contested in degree. No military regions, brigades, launch sites or dispositions are recorded.
Subordinate formations
Rows are layout only — position and order carry no hierarchy, importance, sequence or strength. Every record shown is an immediate subordinate of the selected organisation.
Related organisations
- EUNAVFOR ASPIDES Opposed · as of 2026-09 · high confidence
The operation exists to protect shipping from the Houthi campaign and has engaged Houthi drones and missiles in defence of merchant vessels. Its mandate is defensive: it does not conduct strikes on Yemen.
Lineage & institutional history
Formal parent institution: Answers to the Houthi movement's leadership in Sanaa, which claims the Yemeni state's armed forces as its own; Iranian support is documented and its degree contested, and the module records no command relationship.
Related locations
Bab el-Mandeb: The water the movement's July 2026 blockade declaration concerned; no position, launch site or pattern is described.
Key events
The Houthi movement blockades shipping to and from Saudi ports
The Houthi movement declares a blockade on vessels calling at Saudi ports at Bab el-Mandeb. Vessel traffic through the strait falls by about a quarter, and Saudi Arabia reroutes Asia-bound crude through the Suez Canal — turning a voyage from Yanbu to South Korea of about twenty-four days into one of about fifty-four.
Quick actions
System access
Where this record connects into the rest of Vigil. Each row is here because this organisation actually reaches it.
Assessed as of2026-09Last reviewed2026-09-09
See this force in the structure Interactive: select this record and follow what connects to it.