Siege of Dammaj

The siege of Dammaj began in October 2011 when the Houthis, a rebel group which controls the Saada Governorate, accused Salafis loyal to the Yemeni government of smuggling weapons into their religious center in the town of Dammaj and demanded they hand over their weapons and military posts in the town. As the Salafis refused, Houthi rebels responded by imposing a siege on Dammaj, closing the main entrances leading to the town. The town was controlled by the Houthis and the fighting was mainly centered at Dar al-Hadith religious school, which was operated by Salafis.

In December 2011, a tribal ceasefire was first signed in which both sides temporarily agreed to the removal of all their military checkpoints and barriers around Dammaj. Neutral armed men from the Hashid and Bakil tribes were deployed around the town to ensure both sides adhere to the ceasefire. However, fighting erupted again in October 2013 when Houthis shelled a Salafi mosque and the adjacent Quranic religious school Dar al-Hadith, anticipating an attack from Salafi fighters who had gathered in Dammaj. Houthi rebels later advanced and captured many positions evacuated by the outgunned Salafi fighters and subsequently demolished the symbolic Dar al-Hadith religious school after months of fighting.

The second ceasefire was brokered by the Yemeni government under President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in January 2014. Yemeni troops were deployed to Dammaj and evacuated all Salafi fighters and their families, as well as foreign students to the neighboring governorates, thereby handing over victory to the Houthis.

Media and analysts described the fighting in Dammaj as a sectarian conflict that may have worsened Sunni-Shia relations in Yemen. Other observers believe that the Dammaj siege was representative of a regional contest between Saudi Arabia, who traditionally supported the Salafis, and Iran who backed the Houthi movement.