Dhamar (South24)

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The Iranian-backed Houthi militia announced today the graduation of a batch of more than 10,000 military fighters in Dhamar Governorate in North Yemen, under the name “Al-Aqsa Flood.”

Pictures of Houthi leaders in the military parade (Houthi media)

Media run by the Houthis published images showing militants conducting a military parade in the presence of prominent leader Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi and the Houthi governor of Dhamar, Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti.

The images showed crowds of armed men wearing traditional tribal attire, along with military hats and jackets, raising AK-47 (Kalashnikov) weapons in the air.

New recruits into the ranks of the Houthis in North Yemen (Houthi media)

The military parade as depicted in the images appeared unorganized and random, indicating that the new fighters were trained in a very short period, likely beginning after the outbreak of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict on October 7th.

The Houthis had begun a general mobilization campaign among the population in North Yemen under the pretext of war with Israel, alongside a Houthi propaganda campaign and enthusiastic speeches by its leaders.

Since October 7th, the Houthis have claimed seven missile and drone attacks against Israel, the most recent of which was last Tuesday. They also threatened to target any Israeli ship crossing the Red Sea.

Yesterday, the US Navy shot down a Houthi drone over the Red Sea. Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, in a post on the X platform, issued a threat, stating: “We reserve the right to respond.”