Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani praises arrests of alleged Houthi cells in Aden, Lahj and Abyan

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ADEN, Yemen — Yemen’s prime minister praised police and intelligence agencies on Monday for breaking up what the interior ministry called Houthi cells planning attacks in three southern governorates.

Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani commended the Interior Ministry and the security and intelligence services, Saba, the news agency of the internationally recognised government, reported.

He said they had shown vigilance in preventing the planned attacks.

Al-Zindani reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting the security forces under its offensive against the Houthis, which it calls Operation Dawn of Yemen, Saba said. He urged citizens to report suspicious activity.

Those detained will be referred to the judiciary, according to the agency.

The arrests had been set out hours earlier at a news conference in Aden, the seat of the internationally recognised government. The government moved to the port city after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Interior Minister Staff Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan announced the operations, according to the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat and the broadcaster Yemen TV.

Haidan said the largest group was a network of 18 members detained in late September in Lahj governorate. Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the arrests took place on Sept. 26.

Members of that network had been trained to plant explosives and booby traps, the minister said. He said it was divided into one group assigned to surveillance and another to carry out bombings.

A cell made up of women was detained in Lahj on Sept. 22, the ministry said. It did not say how many people were held.

A two-member cell was detained in Lawdar district, in Abyan governorate, on Sept. 1, Yemen TV reported.

One man was detained in the Dar Saad district of Aden and was found with explosive devices and bomb-making material, according to the ministry. It gave no date for that arrest.

The ministry said the cells had been trained in Saada, Dhamar and the Al-Hawban area of Taiz governorate.

Haidan said the Houthis trained the cells under the supervision of experts from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. Iran denies arming the Houthis.

It said they had planned to kill security and military commanders, to attack installations it described as vital, and to plant roadside bombs along routes used by officials and near their homes and workplaces.

The cells had also watched military convoys and intended to strike reinforcements and supply lines moving toward the front lines, the ministry said.

Other activity it attributed to them included recruitment, sabotage and writing slogans against the Saudi-led coalition that backs the government.

The ministry said the aim was to undermine security, disrupt the fighting fronts and help the Houthis take control of cities.

Lahj borders Aden to the north and Abyan lies to the east, on the roads linking the city to the southern front lines.

The account rests on the Interior Ministry’s own statements at the Aden news conference. No independent confirmation has been published, and Yemen Herald could not verify the detainees’ alleged affiliation, the composition of the cells or the plans attributed to them.

Yemen Herald found no public response from the Houthi authorities in Sanaa to the announcement.

The ministry named several people it said were in custody. Yemen Herald is not publishing the names of detainees who have not been tried.

The suspects will be sent to the judicial authorities once investigations are complete, the ministry said.

Officials who spoke alongside Haidan included Minister of State and Aden Governor Abdulrahman Sheikh and Lahj Governor Murad al-Halimi, Asharq Al-Awsat reported.

Deputy Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Muhammad Musaad al-Amir and Deputy Information Minister Salah al-Aqel also took part, Yemen TV said.

The ministry said on Sept. 30 that security forces had detained cells linked to the Houthis in several provinces. That statement gave no figures, named no locations and identified no officials.

The announcement came as government forces pressed the offensive al-Zindani referred to, which entered its seventh day on Sunday, Asharq Al-Awsat reported.

The Southern Giants Brigades and the Nation’s Shield Forces are among the units taking part, with support from the Saudi-led coalition, the newspaper said.

Fighting has been reported around Taiz, along the western coast and near the Bab al-Mandab strait. Government units have moved on Mayyun Island and the Kahbub Mountains, and airstrikes have hit Houthi-held areas including Sanaa, Saada, Hajjah and Ibb, according to the same report.

Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi has said the campaign will continue until the Houthi threat is removed and state institutions are restored. Al-Zindani has said it is steadily meeting its objectives.

The cabinet, meeting in Aden under al-Zindani, approved a draft law this week designating the Houthis a terrorist organisation and criminalising the group’s financing. It instructed officials to complete the steps needed to ratify it.

At that meeting the government said Yemen had reached what it called a decisive stage in restoring sovereignty over its territory and ending what it described as a Houthi coup financed and directed by Iran. Al-Zindani instructed the executive authorities to meet the needs of the armed forces and the security services.

The cabinet has also warned that the Houthi siege of Taiz affects more than six million residents.

Al-Zindani has been prime minister since February. He held the foreign ministry from March 2024 until July, when Afrah al-Zouba was appointed in his place.