The Houthi movement's media bureau has released a short propaganda video purportedly showing an injured Saudi soldier taken captive by the Houthi rebels.[1] In the video, the soldier, Sergeant Ahmad 'Abdallah Al-'Amari, is shown receiving medical care, in a public relations bid to demonstrate that the Houthis treat their captives in a humane manner.
The video was posted on November 10, 2009, on almenpar.net, a website affiliated with the Houthi movement. On November 8 the same website posted a Houthi communiqué in which the movement claimed to have downed a Saudi military aircraft on the Yemeni side of the border;[2] this is apparently the incident in which the soldier and his comrades were captured. A Saudi military official has denied that the missing soldiers were captured by the Houthis.[3]
The Houthis, who are Zaydi Shi'ites based near Sa'da in northern Yemen, have been waging an on-again off-again insurgency against the Yemeni government for several years. On November 4 a member of a Saudi security force was killed in a border clash with Houthis,[4] after which the Saudi Air Force began an air campaign against reported Houthi infiltrators.[5] (As noted, the Houthis claim that Saudi Arabia is actually operating south of the border.) Saudi Arabia is hostile to the Houthis, and regularly accuses them both of being an Iranian proxy and of collaborating with Al-Qaeda.[6]
In addition to the video described above, the web posting also included a video of the same soldier uninjured and in uniform on a military plane that is also carrying two Humvees. The provenance of this clip is not explained, but it was presumably taken from the cellular phone of one of the other soldiers. A third video shows groups of armed Houthi rebels standing by the two captured Humvees; the rebels shout: "Allah Akbar! Death to America! Death to Israel! A curse on the Jews! Victory for Islam!"
Saudi Seargant Ahmad 'Abdallah Al-'Amari before capture
Al-'Amari in Houthi captivity
His military ID card
"Death to America! Death to Israel!"
[1] www.almenpar.org, November 10, 2009.
[2] www.almenpar.org, November 8, 2009.
[3] www.alarabiya.net, November 10, 2009.
[4] See "Houthis, Saudi Forces Clash," http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/21674.htm, November 5, 2009.
[5] See "Saudi Attack on Houthi Rebels Who Infiltrated from Yemen," http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/21721.htm, November 6, 2009.
[6] See for instance "Saudi Military: Campaign against Houthi Infiltrators Continues," http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/21753.htm, November 8, 2009.
