Houthi Intelligence Directs Al-Qaeda Operations in Yemen, Shocking Intel Report Shows

A groundbreaking report by the P.T.O.C. Yemen Research Center has uncovered a covert military and intelligence partnership between the Iran-backed Houthis and Al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP), challenging long-held assumptions about their adversarial relationship.

Titled "Terror Alliance: The Houthis and Al-Qaeda," the investigation reveals how the two groups have transitioned from public hostility to operational collaboration, with direct Iranian oversight facilitating arms transfers, joint training, and coordinated attacks against Yemeni and international forces.

The report documents a stunning strategic reversal, revealing how the Houthis and Al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP) have transformed their publicly adversarial relationship into a covert operational alliance.

The report reveals that the Houthi group, under the direct supervision of Hassan Al-Marani, deputy head of the Houthi Security and Intelligence Apparatus, released dozens of Al-Qaeda operatives after subjecting them to sectarian and military indoctrination programs, preparing them for redeployment in intelligence and military operations.

The report explains that these operatives were redirected to operate in liberated provinces under a coordination plan overseen by high-ranking Houthi officers. This included supplying Al-Qaeda with light and heavy weapons, advanced explosives, and modern drones used in attacks against military forces in Abyan and Shabwa provinces—even as U.S. forces conduct drone strikes against Al-Qaeda targets.

Additionally, the report highlights that the Houthis relied on these operatives for highly sensitive intelligence tasks, including surveillance, coordination with sleeper cells in areas outside Houthi control—such as Rawdat Al-Ja’adanah in Abyan, and the districts of Hatib, Khawrah, Al-Sa’id, Aramah, Rawdah, and Habban in Shabwa, as well as Zamakh, Manukh, and Al-Abr in Hadramawt. The Houthis also provided safe havens for terrorist elements in areas under their control, such as Sana’a and Ibb, and facilitated their movement from Marib to Al-Jawf.

The report includes confidential documents confirming that the Houthi Security and Intelligence Apparatus directly coordinated operations with Al-Qaeda, including precision strikes targeting military and security sites in Shabwa and Abyan, with logistical and intelligence support from Houthi intermediaries. Key figures named in the report include Mujahid Mardas, the mobilization official in Al-Malaajim District (Al-Bayda), and Muhammad Abdulwahhab Thuban Al-Dailami, supervisor of the central prison in Dhamar.

The report also provides a detailed list of Houthi officers and coordinators managing this network, along with their roles in providing security cover and technical support for terrorist movements. It includes a comprehensive map of Al-Qaeda camps and hideouts in Shabwa and Al-Bayda, as well as an in-depth analysis of the role of Unit 30 within the Houthi Security and Intelligence Apparatus—led by a commander known as "Abu Aws"—in organizing coordination programs between the two groups.

The report confirms that this unit assigned high-profile tasks to Al-Qaeda and ISIS, including assassinations and direct targeting of military and political leaders in liberated provinces, aiming to destabilize security and weaken internal fronts. It also reveals that the Houthis not only provide field support but also supply Al-Qaeda operatives with forged documents, including IDs and passports, to facilitate their movement within and outside Yemen—demonstrating the depth of collaboration between the two groups.

P.T.O.C. Yemen emphasized that this report marks the beginning of a series of upcoming publications aimed at exposing this terrorist alliance between the Houthis and Al-Qaeda, backed by field evidence, testimonies, and official documents. This includes details on Al-Qaeda’s funding through clothing and honey shops, weapons smuggling routes from Al-Jawf to Marib and onward to Shabwa and Abyan, and local and regional coordination networks.

In its conclusion, P.T.O.C. Yemen warns that the continuation of this alliance could turn Yemen into a major hub for cross-border terrorism, pushing the entire region toward further conflict and security collapse. The center calls on the international community to move beyond verbal condemnations and adopt practical, strict measures to dismantle these hidden alliances fueling violence and terrorism in Yemen and the region.