Who are the Houthis? Yemen’s War, the Red Sea Crisis and India

Who are the Houthis?

The Houthis are an armed movement from Saada, in the far north of Yemen. Their official name is Ansar Allah, meaning “Partisans of God”. Most of them follow Zaydism, a branch of Shia Islam. Zaydis are a minority in Yemen as a whole, but a strong majority in the north.

Sources (card 0): Middle East Institute: The Houthis.

How did the movement begin?

In the 1990s, a Zaydi cleric named Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi built a revival movement in Saada. It grew out of a feeling that the north was poor and ignored by Sanaa. It also opposed the spread of Saudi-backed Salafi teaching in the region.

In 2004 Hussein turned against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Yemeni forces killed him in September 2004. His family then led the movement, which took the name Houthis.

Sources (card 1): Middle East Institute: The Houthis.

What were the Saada wars?

Between 2004 and 2010, the Houthis and the Yemeni army fought six rounds of war in Saada. Saudi Arabia joined the last round in 2009–10. A ceasefire in 2010 stopped the fighting but not the quarrel. The Houthis came out stronger, with more weapons and more local support.

Sources (card 2): Middle East Institute: The Houthis; GlobalSecurity: Houthis, Six Wars.

How did the Houthis take Sanaa?

The Arab Spring of 2011 forced Saleh to step down in 2012. Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi became president. The new government stayed weak, and the economy stayed poor.

The Houthis used this gap. They moved south and entered the capital Sanaa on 21 September 2014. Hadi later fled to Aden, and then to Saudi Arabia. Saleh, once their enemy, had by then joined the Houthis.

Sources (card 3): UN Security Council: Resolution 2216 (2015).

Why did Saudi Arabia attack?

Riyadh saw the Houthis as an Iran-friendly force on its southern border. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition began air strikes to restore Hadi’s government. The strikes started on 26 March 2015.

On 14 April 2015, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2216. It asked the Houthis to leave the areas they had seized. It also placed a targeted arms embargo on named Houthi leaders and on forces loyal to Saleh. Fourteen members voted yes, and Russia abstained.

Sources (card 4): UN Security Council: Resolution 2216 (2015).

Did the war ever pause?

Yes, but only partly. In December 2018, talks in Sweden produced the Stockholm Agreement. It had three parts: a ceasefire in Hodeidah city and its ports, a prisoner exchange, and an understanding on the city of Taizz.

The Hodeidah ceasefire only partly held. In April 2022, the UN brokered a two-month truce, which was extended twice. It expired in October 2022. Large-scale fighting did not return, but no final peace deal followed.

Sources (card 5): ASIL: Yemen parties agree ceasefire, 13 December 2018.

What was Operation Raahat?

As the 2015 fighting grew, thousands of foreigners were stuck in Yemen. India ran Operation Raahat from 1 to 11 April 2015. Air India and Indian Air Force planes flew people out of Sanaa to Djibouti. Navy ships such as INS Sumitra and INS Tarkash carried people out by sea from Aden and other ports.

Reports differ on the final count. IndiaSpend reports about 5,600 people were brought out, Indians and many foreigners from other countries. General V.K. Singh, then a Minister of State, led the effort on the ground.

Sources (card 6): IndiaSpend: Operation Raahat.

What is the “axis of resistance”?

The axis of resistance is a loose group of armed movements that Iran supports. It includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, some militias in Iraq, and the Houthis. The members share a hostility to Israel and the United States.

The Houthis are not Iran’s puppet. They have their own goals and leaders. But they get money, training and missile and drone parts from Iran, according to UN experts and Western governments. Iran denies arming them.

Sources (card 7): Middle East Institute: The Houthis; Security Council Report: The Red Sea, July 2026.

Are the Houthis the same as Iran’s Shias?

No. Iran’s Shias are mostly Twelvers. The Zaydis are a different branch. Their religion is closer to Sunni law than the Twelver faith is. The link between the Houthis and Iran is mainly political and military, not religious.

Sources (card 8): Middle East Institute: The Houthis.

What has the war done to ordinary Yemenis?

Yemen has faced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Millions have been displaced. A UN estimate said the war had caused about 377,000 deaths by the end of 2021, from fighting and from hunger and disease. A large cholera outbreak began in 2016 and caused millions of suspected cases.

Food is a core problem, because Yemen imports most of its food. Our earlier lesson on famine and conflict in Yemen and South Sudan explains how conflict creates famine.

Sources (card 9): UN Security Council: Resolution 2216 (2015).

Why is Hodeidah port so important?

Hodeidah, on the Red Sea coast, is held by the Houthis. It is the main entry point for food, fuel and aid for the north, where most Yemenis live. Strikes or blockades on the port can push the country closer to famine. That is why the Stockholm Agreement was centred on it.

Sources (card 10): ASIL: Yemen parties agree ceasefire, 13 December 2018.

What happened on 19 November 2023?

After the Israel–Gaza war began in October 2023, the Houthis said they would target ships linked to Israel. On 19 November 2023, they seized the car carrier Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea. Its crew was held for many months. The attacks soon spread to ships with only loose links to Israel.

Sources (card 11): UN Press: Security Council resolution 2722 (2024).

Why is Bab-el-Mandeb so important?

Bab-el-Mandeb means “Gate of Tears”. It is the narrow strait between Yemen and Africa that joins the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Ships from the Suez Canal must pass through it. A Houthi coast sits right beside it, so ships are easy targets.

Sources (card 12): US EIA: World oil transit chokepoints.

How did shipping respond?

Many big shipping lines stopped using the Red Sea. They sailed around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope instead. This adds days to weeks to an Asia–Europe trip. It also raises fuel use and insurance costs. Traffic through the Suez Canal fell sharply, and it had not fully recovered by early 2026.

Sources (card 13): Security Council Report: The Red Sea, July 2026.

How did the world respond?

The United States announced Operation Prosperity Guardian in December 2023. It was a multinational naval effort to protect shipping. On 11 January 2024, the US and the UK began strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

The Houthis said the attacks were in support of Gaza. They paused during the Gaza ceasefire in early 2025. A US–Houthi truce, brokered by Oman, followed in May 2025. The Houthis resumed some attacks later in 2025.

Sources (card 14): UN Press: Security Council resolution 2722 (2024).

Why does this matter to India?

A large share of India’s trade with Europe, the Middle East and North Africa uses the Red Sea route. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has warned that a large part of this trade is exposed. When ships detour, freight and insurance costs rise, and some routes saw sharp spikes. Exporters of rice, textiles and engineering goods feel this most.

Sources (card 15): IDSA: The Indian Navy and maritime security in the Red Sea; Security Council Report: The Red Sea, July 2026.

What did the Indian Navy do?

India restarted a deployment under Operation Sankalp on 14 December 2023. Warships such as INS Kochi, Kolkata, Chennai and Visakhapatnam were sent to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. P-8I aircraft joined. The Navy responded to distress calls and escorted merchant ships, including many with Indian crews.

On 23 December 2023, the chemical tanker MV Chem Pluto was hit by a drone about 217 nautical miles off Porbandar. The ship was Liberian-flagged. The US blamed Iran, and Iran denied this. The Navy’s explosives experts examined the ship at Mumbai.

Sources (card 16): MP-IDSA: The Indian Navy and maritime security in the Red Sea.

What does UNSCR 2722 say?

The Security Council adopted Resolution 2722 on 10 January 2024. It demanded that the Houthis stop attacks on merchant ships and release the Galaxy Leader. Eleven members voted yes, and four abstained: Algeria, China, Mozambique and Russia. It also asked the Secretary-General for monthly reports. The Council has since kept renewing this reporting at six-month intervals.

Sources (card 17): UN Press: Security Council resolution 2722 (2024); Security Council Report: The Red Sea, July 2026.

Where do things stand now?

The situation is still changing. Reports since mid-2026 describe renewed Houthi attacks, including on shipping linked to Saudi Arabia. These reports need confirmation, so check PIB, MEA and the UN for updates before an exam. The safe lesson is the pattern. The war in Yemen and the wars around Israel and Iran are now linked, and the narrow sea lanes carry the risk.

Sources (card 18): Security Council Report: The Red Sea, July 2026.