Yemen : Houthis Admit Commander Killed in Iraq Strikes Alongside IRGC Advisors

Sana’a — In a rare acknowledgment underscoring the depth of their military presence in Iraq, Yemen’s Houthi movement confirmed Wednesday the death of one of its commanders in airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militias.

Houthi officials announced the killing of senior figure Mohammed Khaled Al-Ayashi in raids that struck positions of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). 

Al-Ayashi was killed alongside four advisors from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), whose bodies were later transferred to Tehran.

The admission provides fresh evidence of joint “operations rooms” linking Houthis with Iraqi militias under direct Iranian supervision. 

It also reinforces findings from an earlier Yemen Monitor investigation, which reported that Houthi involvement in Iraq had evolved from symbolic political representation into operational, cross-border military activity.

Sources cited by Yemen Monitor said that since February 2026, Houthi specialists have operated drones and missiles from Iraqi territory, working within the so-called “Axis of Resistance” to share expertise in weapons manufacturing and deployment.

A Houthi source confirmed that while launch orders were issued by Iraqi factions, Yemeni operators executed the strikes in coordination with them.

The Houthis’ footprint in Iraq dates back to 2016, when a delegation appeared publicly, later expanding ties with parties and factions aligned with Tehran. The latest acknowledgment highlights the group’s deepening integration into regional networks of Iran-backed militias.