Houthi Militant Commits Massacre in Sanhan, Sana’a, Killing His Uncle and Six Others

A Houthi militant committed a horrific massacre, killing his paternal uncle and six others in Sanhan District, part of Sana’a Governorate, which is under the control of the Iran-backed Houthi militia.

Local sources told *Khabar Agency* that the Houthi militant carried out the crime after returning from a sectarian indoctrination course organized by the militia. These courses target new recruits, brainwashing them with extremist and sectarian ideologies—often inciting hostility even toward their own relatives and community members.

According to the sources, the assailant murdered his uncle inside his home, then attempted to leave the scene as if nothing had happened. When bystanders intervened to stop him, he opened fire, killing six of them one by one before fleeing to an unknown location.

Tribal sources speculate that the perpetrator may have sought protection from powerful figures within the militia, which routinely covers up such crimes. The Houthis often exploit perpetrators by sending them to frontlines as disposable combatants.

Tribal sources in multiple governorates confirmed that since their coup against the Yemeni state in September 2014, the Iran-backed Houthi militia has relied on brainwashing recruits through sectarian training before deploying them to battlefronts.

The militia also recruits ex-convicts and prisoners, especially those convicted of murder, subjecting them to sectarian indoctrination. Some are then smuggled out of prisons or released through tribal mediations that pressure victims’ families to "pardon" the killers in the name of "God’s will." For these prisoners, such deals are a welcome alternative to incarceration.