The key facts
- Yemen's Defense Ministry: Houthi recruitment gatherings are legitimate military targets
- The Houthis claimed attacks on targets in Riyadh, Dammam, Yanbu and Abha; Saudi Arabia reported four dead
- US Chargé d'Affaires Neil Hop called for an end to the recruitment of Yemeni children
Yemeni government warning
The Yemeni government on Thursday, October 22, warned residents of Houthi-controlled areas not to attend gatherings organized by the Iran-backed movement, since they are used to recruit children and youth as fighters. 'Any gatherings of this kind will be considered legitimate military targets,' the defense ministry said. According to the ministry, the Houthis use tribal mobilization, mass events, cultural courses and other activities as a pretext for recruiting new fighters. The ministry urged people to stay away and 'not allow their children to be used and their lives to be put at risk.'
US representative's statement
US Chargé d'Affaires to Yemen Neil Hop also accused the Houthis of recruiting children and forcing them to fight on the front lines, calling for an end to the practice. 'Children everywhere deserve a real childhood, not brainwashing in the Houthi cult of death,' he said in a video published by the US Embassy in Yemen on X. According to him, messages and videos document the recruitment of Yemeni children from schools and off the streets to be sent to the front, where they risk death or severe psychological trauma. Hop also accused Houthi leaders of recruiting children from ordinary Yemeni families rather than their own, and said the movement dismissively calls them 'zanabil.' 'This is wrong, and it must end,' he said, adding: 'Tell the little ayatollah to stop recruiting Yemen's children for his war,' referring to the Houthi leader.
Escalation of the conflict with Saudi Arabia
The government's warning came amid an escalation of the confrontation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, which leads the coalition supporting the Yemeni government. On Thursday, the Houthis said that over the previous 48 hours they had attacked the Saudi defense ministry in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, an Aramco facility in Yanbu, and Abha International Airport. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attacks were carried out with ballistic missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia reported two people killed in the attack on the airport in Dammam. Two more people were killed and two wounded when debris from a drone intercepted by Saudi air defenses fell near a processing facility at the Shaybah oil field operated by Saudi Aramco in the Eastern Province. The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday it had intercepted and destroyed five drones in the Riyadh and Medina regions.
Houthi warning of 'major options'
Saree also warned that any Saudi threat against Yemeni tribes would trigger a response, saying the movement could resort to 'major options' it had previously avoided. 'If this threat is carried out, the consequences will be catastrophic and unpredictable,' he said. It is unclear whether he was referring to the Yemeni defense ministry's warning about tribal gatherings organized by the Houthis. He pledged that attacks on Saudi Arabia would continue until, in the Houthis' wording, the aggression against Yemen stops and the blockade is lifted.
