World

How Yemen’s Houthis finance their war and evade sanctions

LONDON: The average Houthi fighter, dressed in a traditional futah wraparound skirt, carrying an ancient AK-47 and brandishing a curved jambiya dagger, might look like an unsophisticated throwback to another era. But behind the ranks of the sandal-clad militia is a modern financial network, dealing in weapons, oil and people and moving and laundering billions of dollars through a combination of cryptocurrency wallets and traditional hawala networks. “The Houthis are operating a sophisticated fin