Yemen's government on Thursday warned residents of Houthi-controlled areas against attending gatherings organised by the Iran-aligned militia, saying they were being used to recruit children and young people as fighters.
“Any gatherings of this kind will be considered legitimate military targets,” the Defence Ministry said.
The ministry said the Houthis used events held under the pretext of tribal mobilisation, mass gatherings, cultural courses and other activities for recruitment, and urged people to stay away and “not allow their children to be exploited and their lives put at risk”.
Neil Hop, US Charge d’Affaires in Yemen, also accused the Houthi movement of recruiting children and forcing them to fight on the front lines, and called for an end to the practice.
“Children everywhere deserve a real childhood, not brainwashing into the Houthi cult of death,” Mr Hop said in a video published on X by the US embassy in Yemen.
He said reports and videos documented the recruitment of Yemeni children from schools and streets for deployment on the front lines, exposing them to the risk of being killed or suffering lasting psychological trauma.
He also accused Houthi leaders of targeting children from ordinary Yemeni families rather than their own, saying the group derogatorily referred to them as “zanabeel”.
“It is wrong and it has to end,” Mr Hop said. “Tell the little Ayatollah to stop recruiting Yemen’s children for his war,” he added, referring to the Houthi leader.
The government's warning came amid escalating hostilities between Houthis and Saudi Arabia, which leads the coalition supporting Yemen's government.
The Houthis on Thursday claimed to have attacked the Saudi Defence Ministry in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, an Aramco site in Yanbu and Abha International Airport in the previous 48 hours.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attacks were carried out using ballistic missiles and drones.
Saudi Arabia said two people were killed in an attack on the airport in Dammam. Another two people were killed and two others injured after debris from a drone intercepted by Saudi air defences fell near a processing plant at Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield in the Eastern Province.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday it had intercepted and destroyed five drones in the Riyadh and Madinah regions.
Mr Saree also warned any Saudi threat to target Yemeni tribes would prompt a response, saying the group could resort to “major options” it has previously avoided. “If it carries out this threat, the consequences will be catastrophic and unforeseen,” he said.
It is not clear whether he was referring to the Yemeni Defence Ministry's warning against tribal gatherings organised by the Houthis.
He vowed the attacks on Saudi Arabia will continue until what the Houthis describe as aggression against Yemen stopped and its blockade was lifted.