Researcher: Houthis and Al-Shabaab linked by shared interests

Yemeni political analyst Abdul Sattar Al-Shumairi has stated that shared interests connect the Houthi militia and Somalia's Al-Shabaab movement.

Speaking in an interview with Al-Hadath TV, Al-Shumairi explained that the two groups have come together based on the principle that 'interests reconcile,' and that ideological differences have not prevented extremist groups from cooperating on military matters and the shadow economy.

He added that other groups have emerged along the coastal strip, ports, Africa, and the Horn of Africa, and following the decline of Al-Qaeda, these groups became 'orphans without support.' According to Al-Shumairi, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps then stepped in as an architect to build relationships among these groups, expanding ties to include factions of Al-Qaeda in Yemen.

Al-Shumairi continued that the tactical aim of these groups is to secure military and financial resources for themselves, but the broader goal of the Revolutionary Guard is to establish a 'belt of fire' stretching from Iran to Africa and then to Yemen.

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