Yemen's government and Houthi rebels have agreed on phase one of a mutual pullback of forces from the key city of Hodeidah.
About:
Religion: The Houthis are Zaydi Shiites, or Zaydiyyah. Shiite Muslims are the minority community in the Islamic world and Zaydis are a minority of Shiites, significantly different in doctrine and beliefs from the Shiites who dominate in Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Background: The Houthi movement was founded in the 1990s by Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Zaidi Shia minority. Hussein was killed by Yemeni soldiers in 2004, and the group is now led by his brother Abdul Malik.
Goals: The Houthis’ slogan, known as the sarkha, or scream, is “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory to Islam.” Apart from the resistance narrative, the Houthis have no stated political or governance goals for Yemen.
Recent conflict:
The Houthis and the Yemeni government have battled on and off since 2004, but much of the fighting was confined to the Houthis' stronghold, northern Yemen's impoverished Saada province.
In September 2014, the Houthis took control of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and proceeded to push southwards towards the country's second-biggest city, Aden.
In response to the Houthis' advances, a coalition of Arab states launched a military campaign in 2015 to defeat the Houthis and restore Yemen's government.
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