Radicalisation

The civil war in Yemen has been going on for ten years, and the world has pretended not to notice. It is only when the conflict spills over to neighbouring countries and regions that we see a flurry of activity, usually of the wrong kind. This was the case when targets in UAE and Saudi Arabia came under attack, or more recently when shipping in the Red Sea was targeted by Yemen’s current ruling group, the Houthis.

The US State Department on Tuesday reinstated the “foreign terrorist organization” designation for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group fulfilling an order announced by President Donald Trump shortly after he took office. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the department had restored the designation, which carries with it sanctions and penalties for anyone providing “material support” for the group.