Houthis Lock Down Yemen's Sanaa: Ministers, Tribal Chiefs Under House Arrest in Unprecedented Crackdown

The Houthi militia has imposed unprecedented security measures in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa—under its forcible control—barring several ministers, military and security leaders, and tribal chiefs from leaving the city and confining them to house arrest.

According to well-informed security sources, the restrictions target ministers in the Iran-backed militia’s puppet government, along with senior military and security officials, deputy ministers, agency directors, and Houthi-appointed overseers in government institutions. Tribal leaders and businessmen based in the capital have also been affected.

The sources confirmed that those targeted were ordered to cease all movement and forbidden from departing Sana’a under penalty of reprisal—a move underscoring deepening rifts and mounting tensions within the militant group.

The crackdown coincides with the militia’s deployment of additional security checkpoints at key entry and exit points around the capital, bolstered by armored vehicles and armed personnel. Intensified military patrols across the city have effectively turned Sana’a into a locked-down zone under an unofficial state of emergency.

Analysts suggest the measures follow escalating infighting among Houthi factions, marked by mutual accusations of betrayal and growing signs of internal fractures that could destabilize the group’s leadership.