Yemen’s rolling tragedy is rooted in its warlike mountain tribes

Warring tribes and progress undone

Yemen's modernisation was always resisted by some of its warring Zaydi tribes, today epitomised by the Houthis.

Such groups remain steadfastly attached to their customs, traditions, and bloodlines and are continuously engaged in one conflict after the other.

The source calls this an "intermittent permanent war", a term he uses to capture Yemen's profound historical and contemporary tragedy. This ceaseless cycle, also spanning the 60-year history of the republican system, has been punctuated only by fleeting truces and perpetuated by Yemen's tribes.

Our source believes that Yemenis can be divided into two main groups: Warrior tribes and non-warrior tribes.

The warriors live in the mountains and have a long history of warfare. They are also skilled agriculturists but prioritise military training and activities over farming. As a result, they do not produce a surplus of agricultural goods that can be sold or traded.

To them, weapons are a symbol of honour and manhood. The Zaydi warrior tribes are primarily concentrated in the mountains, but there are also warring tribes in South Yemen, such as those in Marib, Al-Dhalea, and Yafaa.

The non-warriors, who live on the plains, are farmers. Their land is better suited for agriculture, producing a surplus that they sell and trade. Some of them, including the Tihama, and Taiz in the Ibb governorate, have entirely abandoned warfare. 

The inhabitants of Sana'a and its surrounding areas are also non-warriors. The people of Hadramout in the south are primarily traders. They do not take pride in weaponry and only resort to violence to defend themselves.

Many non-warriors have migrated to East Asia and the Gulf to escape the state of perpetual war in the country.

Tragedy in Ibb

The division our source identifies has deep roots.

He traces it back to the 18th and 19th centuries and Yemen's mountainous Imamate state, which was historically strengthened by the allegiance of warrior tribes.

Migration out of the area weakened the tribes there, as people sought better livelihoods elsewhere, and it continued long enough for many tribal warriors to leave their mountain strongholds for the steppes of Ibb.

There, they seized fertile lands and established ownership, subjugating resident land-owning farmers as serfs under their rule.

In Ibb, a specific term is widely used to denote this historical episode. Its inhabitants refer to the descendants of the warring tribes who captured their lands and settled there as "metastases." This term reflects the movement of warriors from the mountains to the productive agricultural lowlands.

Today, many of the sheikhs in Ibb trace their ancestry to these metastases, and their migration from the mountains. This historical context helps explain the country's propensity for conflict.

The Houthi mountain tribes – which had been getting out of their strongholds in Saada – could invade Ibb after Sanaa, with little resistance. It also explains why the people of Ibb were restless, having been subdued by the Houthis, and why they finally rose up against them a few months ago.

The path to peace

The Yemeni expert believes that the solution to his country's tragedy is ending the permanent intermittent war and transforming the warring mountain tribes into peaceful groups.

Breaking this cultural propensity for conflict could help to end the cycle of war, and the spreading of ignorance, backwardness, and poverty that comes with perpetual conflict.

In North Yemen during the republican era, many bureaucratic administrators, technocrats, merchants, and accountants were from Hadramout and Taiz. In addition, the republican elite was often formed among immigrants to Aden and Lebanon, where they studied at the American University of Beirut.

In Aden, during the British colonialism era, associations and newspapers were formed for immigrants who remained connected to their homeland in the north. These immigrants were the foundation of the republican elite.

Moreover, there were many residents of Aden, before its independence, who were originally from Taiz. They used to work in Aden and return to Taiz and Ibb to cultivate their land. It was the nationalisation policy pursued by the Socialist Party in the south that forced many to migrate to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

Looking to the future, our source sees hope in Yemen's south.

The Hadramis – the inhabitants of Hadramout in the south, primarily merchants with a substantial portion residing in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, and East Asia –  are against the warring tribes.

If Hadramis can unite the people of Yemen, they might have the potential to break the cycle of war and lay the foundation for a prosperous peace.

Read more: Building a viable state fit for Yemeni people to return

War economy

For the warlike tribes, the Yemeni source believes that the Houthi movement attracts like-minded people from the Zaydi community.

Houthis seek to control all of Yemen, even though they are a minority within the Zaydi community. They depend on Iran for funding and supplies like Hezbollah does in Lebanon.

The similarities do not end there. Yemen has developed a war economy like the one in Lebanon, with a large part of it based on corruption, smuggling, and drugs.

Read more: Hezbollah's sordid history of organised crime

In Sana'a, for example, the Houthis destroyed the Public Electricity Corporation. They established small private companies to sell electricity to people, a move they also made with water distribution.

Then they destroyed education and established their own schools that teach their new doctrine and perpetuate this warlike society.

Many public institutions in Sana'a today are almost empty, with guards pointlessly standing at their doors. But there are exceptions, such as the Ministry of Awqaf. It is full of employees and life for a simple reason: it generates money through bribery and royalties.