Yemen’s government dealt a painful blow to Houthis by launching huge telecommunications projects in the interim capital Aden, pulling the rug out from under the Iran-backed Houthis in Sanaa by depriving them of millions of dollars in income from central control of services. The projects, launched by Yemen’s internationally-recognized government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr, enraged the Houthis and dashed their hopes of taking over the country. Coup government head Abdul Aziz bin Habtoor called for an emergency meeting to discuss how to respond to the legitimate government’s move. In its latest 2018 report, the United Nations Security Councils sanctions committee revealed that Houthi militias were taxing more than an annual half a billion dollars just by exploiting the telecommunications sector, collecting tariffs from companies to finance their war effort. The cost of government-launched telecommunications sector projects amount to $100 million, official sources revealed. Bin Daghr described the initiative as “a step towards better building a new Yemen, ending the monopoly, pillage and appropriation of public assets” by Houthi militias. Houthis, after taking over communications and Internet services in Sanaa, have employed public assets to push for their repressive agenda. “This project is a development project, which is for the good of a greater Yemen and will extend its services nationwide, benefiting every citizen,” bin Daghr said. Reviewing the project’s objectives, he explained that it will boost the country’s current capacity 80 fold and will provide Internet users with unprecedented speeds, quotas, greater visibility in output and a lower prices. “The project has provided hundreds of job opportunities… and will contribute significantly to national income,” added Daghr. He expressed his gratitude to the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, which “provided security conditions for the implementation of the projects.” On the other hand, the Houthi group in Sanaa issued statements claiming that the projects “violate the sovereignty of Yemen and seek to undermine the telecommunications sector,” threatening to take a series of escalation measures in response to the launch, without disclosing any further details.