Houthi armed groups challenge Yemen power structure

For decades, the Ahmar family had been one of the most powerful forces in Yemen. Its influence was built on an alliance that dated back to the days when former President Ali Abdullah Saleh took power in coalition with the most prominent leader of the Hashed tribal confederation, Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar. They were also directing the government’s decisions, producing a brand of politics that brought harm to millions of Yemenis.

Ahmar’s children, who inherited leadership of the tribe after he died in 2007, have never quite understood their tribe’s true strength or what made their tribal confederation, the Hasheds, Yemen’s strongest. This strength did not derive from size alone, as the Hasheds are the third-largest tribe in Yemen, after the Madhaj and Bakkil tribes. Indeed, it was their alliance with the state, as represented by the regime of the former president, that served as the backbone upon which they depended to protect their interests and secure privileges unprecedented for any Yemeni family.

When they rebelled against Saleh, they unwittingly lost the state’s support. This was clearly evident in the latest confrontation, where their old ally Saleh tried to exact his revenge by using his influence to make other tribes ally with the Houthis rather than the Ahmars. This accusation was levelled at Saleh by Hamid al-Ahmar, one of Ahmar's sons, and confirmed to Al-Monitor by tribal sources. Ironically, their support for the revolt against Saleh was among the key catalysts for the events earlier this year that appeared to mark the end of their era as one of the most powerful forces in Yemen.

The Houthi takeover of the Ahmar family’s stronghold this January left many Yemenis in a state of shock. The once invincible family had been humiliated, routed from their former bastion. But regardless of how it seemed then, events had been building for some time.