SANAA, Yemen -- This weekend, rebels in Yemen stormed through the capital Sanaa, ousting the Prime Minister and seizing the government television station, the central bank and key military installations.
In the wake of the raid, President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced the formation of a new “technocratic national government” that is likely to offer concessions to the Shiite rebels known as Houthis.
For more than a month, the Houthis have been demonstrating in the capital, paralyzing the government, which in turn has tried to suppress the protests.
The government has long cracked down on the Houthis, who seek greater self-determination. The long-time former President Ali Abdullah Saleh waged a brutal war on the group which, while lasting years, received little international attention.
The United States supported Saleh until his ouster, seeing him as an ally against Al Qaida militants in the country, and the U.S. military still target militants in Yemen. According to the New America Foundation, more than 1,000 people -- many of them civilians -- have been killed by American drones since 2002.
During Yemen's 2011-2012 revolution, in which Saleh was deposed, the Houthis played an active part in both the protests and the post-revolution mediation efforts, offering what seemed to many Yemenis a departure from the corrupt ruling party.
The revolution, however, has produced very little change for ordinary Yemenis, many of whom live in abject poverty.
In late July, when the government removed fuel subsidies, the Houthis' political and religious leader, Abdul Malik al Houthi, called for mass protests and demonstrators set up camps both in Sanaa and on the outskirts of the city, demanding reinstatement of fuel subsidies and the formation of a new government.
Demonstrators on the airport road have been largely peaceful, but Houthi fighters have slowly made their way into Sanaa to defend Houthi majority neighborhoods in the capital. Outside the capital in the provinces of Mareb and Jawf, Houthi fighters are actively battling government forces.
"If we wanted to enter the city with weapons, the day they killed the protesters would have been our perfect excuse," said one tribesmen from Mareb, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Yemen-Houthis-12.jpg" caption="Haitham al Maswari stands beside his bed in al Moaiyed Hospital after being shot in the arm at a protest in support of the Houthis on September 9, 2014 in Sana'a, Yemen. Though he was shot in his right arm, he said confidently, "If Abdul Malik calls us to fight, I will be ready. My trigger finger still works."" credit="Nasim al Sana'ani" alt="Houthis Oppose the Yemeni Government"]
The Houthis say that government forces, though unprovoked, cracked down hard the demonstrators. At least nine Houthis protesters were killed in early September. The government vehemently denies involvement in the killings, despite video evidence to the contrary.
Nasim al Sana'ani is the pen name of a photo journalist who lives in Yemen. She uses a pen name for security reasons.