SUMMARY

The Salafi Dar al-Hadith educational institute was located in Dammaj, Saadah, in the Zaydi heartland, and aggressively proselytized its teachings among the Zaydi tribes, even encouraging its supporters to destroy Zaydi shrines and tombs. The proselytizing of Dar al-Hadith and other Salafis among Zaydis had been one of the motivations for the creation of the Zaydi revivalist Ansarallah movement. Salafi fighters had also regularly supported the government in its conflicts with Ansarallah, which had first erupted in 2004.

The year-long protest movement to force Saleh to resign in 2011 seriously destabilized Yemen, as Saleh's security forces divided against themselves, and as armed groups such as Alliance of Yemeni Tribes and Islah rebelled. In the power-vacuum, Ansarallah expanded its control throughout Saadah governorate, driving out the last government loyalist and appointing its own governor in March 2011.

At that point, Dammaj and its surrounding area were the last part of the governorate outside of Ansarallah’s control, instead being held by some 5,000 fighters tied to the Dar al-Hadith movement. As Ansarallah’s power rose, further confrontation with Dar al-Hadith seemed inevitable. In October 2011, reports began trickling out that Ansarallah had instituted a blockade of Dammaj over allegations that Dar al-Hadith was smuggling in weapons to the institute. Clashes erupted soon thereafter, after Ansarallah’s demand that Dar al-Hadith surrender its weapons and military positions was rejected.

Though tribal mediations would temporarily pause the fighting at various times during the two-year long siege, fighting continued intermittently until government-led mediation resulted in the withdrawal of Dar al-Hadith from Saadah in January 2014. The siege would galvanize Salafi opposition to Ansarallah, with foreign fighters travelling to fight alongside Dar al-Hadith, and widespread clashes with between Ansarallah and Islah.