Fearing a popular uprising, the Houthi group stepped up its repressive measures in parallel with the governorate of Yemen and preparations to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday across areas under its control. Influence and dominance parallel the wave of popular rejection of all manifestations of Houthi supremacy.

For several weeks, the Houthi group has been collecting data on the people of Ibb Governorate, their assets and sources of income, and according to sources in the governorate, members of the group distributed it to residents of the town (193 kilometers south). Sana’a, the capital of the governorate’s center, makes about their assets and sources of income, whether they have relatives, inside or outside the governorate, who financially support or spend on them.

The committee mandated neighborhood officials known as “neighborhood leaders” to oversee the filling of forms and verify all data including residents’ identities, their numbers, sources of income and nature of assets. Ownership of houses, conveyances and weapons, and their relatives abroad or those in villages and towns or property outside the governorates?

Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi groups are making unprecedented security arrangements in anticipation of any popular movement against the Houthi group to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday and the ninth anniversary of the coup. The governor launched a campaign to popularize the “September 26” revolution by painting the state flag on walls and water tanks.

A political activist in the governorate said; The campaign “caused great embarrassment to Houthi fighters, prompting them to take covert measures to track down those who embraced the campaign and take steps to prevent it from becoming a popular opposition party.”

Asharq Al-Awsad, an activist who reserved his statements, explains that the campaign seeks to consolidate the position of the governor’s people against the group and incite them against it in order to prevent it from attacking or targeting its participants. “The September 26 revolution is the foundation of modern Yemeni state building and its birth certificate, which the militia claims to defend,” he said.

Fear of awakening

Although the Houthi coup on September 21, 2014; It targeted the Kingdom and Republic of Yemen, which was formed on September 26, 1962. The leaders of the group did not dare to announce this; Knowing the position of this revolution in the conscience of Yemenis, they tried to target it structurally, claiming to respect it and protecting some of its aspects.

The activist says the group is silent on the participation of the people of the governorate in the campaign and has no objection to painting the republican flag on walls, cars and water tanks. It has, however, made various secret arrangements to reach out to those it expects to be behind the campaign and aim to lead a people’s movement against it in the coming days.

Sources say the pace of Houthi security preparations is increasing. Leaders of the group in the governorate have noticed the return of clips and videos of a young man named Hamdi al-Mugahal, who was assassinated in a prison run by the group last March after he was abducted in the wake of his posts and inciting people against the practices and dominance of the Houthis.

Al-Mughal’s killing later caused a wave of anger and popular uprising, and during his funeral, the townspeople of Ibb chanted slogans against the group and demanded its departure.

The group countered this with security campaigns and kidnappings targeting dozens of youths from the Old City, most of whom are still in prison.

Like other governorates under the control of the Houthi group, this governorate is making huge preparations to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday, and these preparations inevitably include residents, especially merchants, traders and shop owners; Compelling them to spread expressions of celebration like decorations and wall paint by donating money and materials for the celebration.

Targeting enthusiasts

The Houthi group returned to carrying out a large-scale campaign of surveillance and kidnappings, distributing its members to random searches of residents’ phones in streets and markets in addition to inspections and interrogations at checkpoints and checkpoints.

The Houthis launched a kidnapping campaign targeting shop owners in the governorate’s central city of Ib because they refused to comply with orders to hang and spread decorations from strips of green cloth, install lights of the same color, and paint the front walls and sidewalks of their shops.

Local sources in the governorate said Houthi fighters positioned themselves on the city’s streets, attacking shops that did not hang and light green decorations and lights and assaulting their owners before taking them to prisons.

Two months ago, the Houthi group abducted Fadl al-Hindi, a union official at the Yemeni Teachers Association in Ibb Governorate, in the wake of a seven-year strike by Yemeni teachers demanding their salaries. A strike that worries the Houthi group is turning into a popular movement, especially after the broad solidarity it has gained, demands for salaries from other sectors of public servants.

In this context, a Houthi leader abducted a journalist’s wife and child from the governorate and detained them, preventing him from entering the city of Aden to force him to declare his allegiance to the group.

Journalist Muhammad Abdullah al-Qadri spoke about the abduction of Houthi leader Rashad al-Shabibi, one of the group’s supervisors in Habesh district and a member of the Shura Council, his wife and 7-year-old son. He declared his allegiance to the city and the Houthi group. Al-Shabibi prevented al-Qadri’s wife and child from communicating with him or their relatives.

Ibrahim Askin, a journalist and political activist from the governorate, previously reported receiving threats from the Houthi leader targeting his children. This is not the first threat since he addressed the Houthi group’s violations in Ibb governorate, but earlier threats came from the governorate’s general supervisor, Houthi leader Muhammad Abdul-Ghani al-Dawuz. Back to IP and stick out his tongue.

Likewise, journalist Ahmad al-Sabahi reported that he received a threat from a member of the Houthi group who was a friend of his before the coup. I informed him that he cannot return to the governorate.