Houthi militias assigned 150 turbaned followers to recruit school students through lectures, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. Meanwhile, the militia continues to perform sectarian activities in Sanaa, in a quest to mobilize former militants and recruit new members.
Military observers say that the Houthi militia is most likely suffering from a sharp shortage in members due to the consecutive defeats at the outskirts of Hodeida and its main stronghold in Saada.
The sources added that Hamoud Mohammad Abad, a leader in the group, is controlling the mobilization amid students with the beginning of the new scholar year. A few days earlier, the group leaders launched a mobilization campaign in coincidence with the visit of Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths.
This sent a message to the observers that the group insists on prolonging the war and rejecting peace efforts.
Abad held in Sanaa a meeting with local leaders, ruled by the group, in order to assess the impact of the mobilization campaigns – present group leaders stressed the necessity that the turbaned Houthis succeed to recruit a minimum of 100 students from every public school in Sanaa, added the sources.
Asharq Al-Awsat spoke to parents and instructors who denounced the Houthi attitude and considered it a new crime – they called on the UN and human rights organizations to quickly intervene for the sake of protecting Sanaa students, putting an end for the mobilization campaigns and providing a secure environment that ensures the students' right to get an education.
