A U.S. research institute that recently investigated the Houthi terrorist organization revealed in a special report that the militia is working to expand its influence and networks across the Horn of Africa by recruiting operatives from African countries. According to the institute, the Houthis have pursued the effort with the help of Somalia-based terrorist organization Al-Shabaab.
2+The report states that government forces in Mukalla, Yemen, arrested a Somali citizen in 2024 who they claimed served as a liaison between the Houthis and Al-Shabaab. According to the report, he helped transfer up to 400 Somalis to Houthi camps for military and ideological training and also assisted Houthi engineers in reaching the Somali city of Jilib.
The cooperation is notable not only geographically, but also religiously. Al-Shabaab is a Sunni terrorist organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda, while the Iran-backed Houthis are Shiite. Cooperation between the two is unusual in the Middle East, particularly given the report’s claim that the Houthis provided ideological training to Somali recruits.
2+Beyond recruitment, the report says the Houthis have expanded their smuggling operations into countries and territories across the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, exploiting commercial and maritime routes while attempting to establish new logistical hubs for storing and transferring weapons, materials and components used in weapons production to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The report noted that the largest weapons shipment intercepted since the outbreak of the war in Yemen was aboard the Al-Sharwa, seized by Yemeni government forces off Yemen’s western coast in 2025. The vessel was carrying approximately 750 tons of military equipment, including Iranian missiles and missile components, drone engines, and radar and communications equipment.
2+The report also states that Houthi-linked networks are estimated to have imported between 7,500 and 8,500 tons of ammonium nitrate and other chemicals into Djibouti between 2023 and 2025 before transferring them to Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. The shipments also allegedly included millions of electronic detonators used in explosive devices and drones, according to the researchers.
The report warned that the Houthis’ expanding relationships with armed groups and smuggling networks throughout the Horn of Africa could increase their ability to circumvent the arms embargo and anti-smuggling operations, while providing additional avenues to threaten international commerce in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.