SANA, Yemen — The capital of Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest and perhaps most chronically unstable nation, has new masters.
Anti-American Shiite rebels are stationed at checkpoints and roam the streets in pickups mounted with anti-aircraft guns. The fighters control almost all state buildings, from the airport and the central bank to the Defense Ministry.
Only a few police officers and soldiers are left on the streets. Rebel fighters have plastered the city with fliers proclaiming their slogan — “Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory to Islam” — a variation of a popular Iranian slogan often chanted by Shiite militants in Iraq and supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
While the world has been focused on the fight against Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Yemen has seen its own sudden, seismic upheaval when Shiite rebels known as the Houthis overran Sana two weeks ago.
Now the Houthis, who many think are backed by Shiite-led Iran, are poised to become Yemen’s version of the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon — top power brokers dominating the government and running a virtual state within a state.
Their takeover of the capital also threatens to bring a violent backlash from hard-line Sunnis, creating a sectarian battle that would boost al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, which the United States has been battling for years.
Jamal Benomar, the U.N. special envoy who has been mediating among the government, the Houthis and other factions, warned that “this takeover of Sana by the Houthis will widely reverberate in Yemen and the region.”
“Yemen will now be seen as linked to other situations in the region, with regional and international involvement,” he said.
