On December 17, 2025, the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published an article stating that the Yemeni Houthi (Ansar Allah) movement has recently increased its forced recruitment of inmates in Houthi prisons as fighters, offering them clemency and sending them to the frontlines. According to the article, the Houthis have thus far recruited hundreds of fighters this way, at the order of Houthi leader Abdulmalik Badreddine Al-Houthi, and the methods of pressure that they use to get inmates to enlist include threats of punishment and denial of visitation rights.[1]

The article cited “knowledgeable sources” as having said that 370 inmates in the Amran and Sa’dah provinces, which are considered to be Houthi strongholds, have been forcibly recruited into indoctrination and military courses in preparation for being sent to the frontlines. The sources also said that in recent days, the Houthis have launched a new recruitment campaign in these provinces, also offering clemency in exchange for enlistment. The article cites “local sources” from the Sa’dah province as having said that the Houthis have released 80 prisoners after having forced them to enlist as fighters and undergo indoctrination courses. The article elaborates that the Houthis have launched similar campaigns in other provinces they control, including Sanaa, Ibb, Dhamar, Hudaydah, and Hajjah.

According to the article, the last such recruitment campaign resulted in the release of 219 prisoners in the Ta’izz province. The article elaborated that the campaigns come on the backdrop of Houthi efforts to reinforce their military presence on the frontlines, alongside their desire to participate in what they call “the battle for the liberation of Palestine.”