“The Department of State will notify Congress of my intent to designate Ansarallah – sometimes referred to as the Houthis – as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity, pursuant to Executive Order 13224,” the statement said.

“I also intend to designate three of Ansarallah’s leaders, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim, as SDGTs,” the statement added.

Pompeo claimed that these designations would provide additional tools to confront “terrorist activity and terrorism” by Ansarallah.

“The designations are intended to hold Ansarallah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations, infrastructure, and commercial shipping,” he added.

What Is the Ansarullah Movement?

The Ansarullah Movement is an Islamic political and armed movement that emerged from Sa'dah in northern Yemen in the 1990s. The movement is also called Houthis because its founder is from the Houthi tribe.

Under the leadership of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the group emerged as an opposition to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom they charged with massive financial corruption and criticized for being backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States at the expense of the Yemeni people and Yemen's sovereignty.

Resisting Saleh's order for his arrest, Hussein was killed in Sa'dah in 2004 along with a number of his guards by the Yemeni army, sparking the Houthi insurgency in Yemen. Since then, except for a short intervening period, the movement has been led by his brother Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

In 2003, the Ansarullah’s slogan “God is great, death to the US, death to israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam”, became the group's trademark.

The movement's expressed goals include combating economic underdevelopment and political marginalization in Yemen while seeking greater autonomy for Houthi-majority regions of the country. They also claim to support a more democratic non-sectarian republic in Yemen. The Ansarullah have made fighting corruption the centerpiece of their political program.

The Ansarullah Movement took part in the 2011 Yemeni Revolution by participating in street protests and by coordinating with other opposition groups. They joined the National Dialogue Conference in Yemen as part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative to broker peace following the unrest. However, the movement would later reject the November 2011 GCC deal's provisions stipulating formation of six federal regions in Yemen, claiming that the deal did not fundamentally reform governance and that the proposed federalization “divided Yemen into poor and wealthy regions”.

In late 2014, the movement repaired their relationship with the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and with his help, they took control of the capital and much of the north.

In 2014–2015, the movement took over the government in Sanaa with the help of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and announced the fall of the current government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The Ansarullah Movement have gained control of most of the northern part of Yemen's territory and since 2015 have been resisting the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen that claims to seek to restore the internationally recognized Yemeni government to power.

The movement have also launched repeated missile and drone attacks against Saudi territories in retaliation for Saudi regime’s attacks on Yemeni civilians. (ILKHA)