Yemenis’ Phone Balances Become Fuel for Houthi War Machine

In Yemen’s Houthi-controlled north, the war economy now reaches into the smallest places: a shopkeeper’s ledger, a family’s food budget, and even the balance on a mobile phone.

Khaled Al-Ansi reports that telecommunications companies in areas controlled by the Houthis have become a key financial channel for raising money for the group’s military operations, including missile and drone programs. The sums requested from individual subscribers may be tiny—often just 100 Yemeni rials—but across millions of users, those micro-collections can become a powerful revenue…