The traders operate in the capital Sana’a and other areas under control of the Houthis.

Weapons dealers in Yemen are openly using the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to sell Kalashnikovs, pistols, grenades and grenade-launchers.

The traders operate in the capital Sana’a and other areas under control of the Houthis, a rebel group backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorists by the US and Australian governments.

The advertisements are mostly in Arabic and aimed primarily at Yemeni customers in a country where the number of guns is often said to outnumber the population by three to one.

The BBC has found several examples online, offering weapons at prices in both Yemeni and Saudi riyals.

The words beside the weapons are designed to lure in the buyers.

“Premium craftsmanship and top-notch warranty,” says one advertisement. “The Yemeni-modified AK is your best choice.”

A demonstration video, filmed at night, shows the seller blasting off a 30-round magazine on full automatic.

Another offers sand-coloured Pakistani-produced Glock pistols for around $900 each.

  • @[email protected]English
    -4•4 months ago

    I feel sympathy the Yemenis having to live under brutal regimes. Especially for homosexual Yemenis who are literally crucified.

    I think it’s you that has no sympathy for Yemnis. You see Houthis hating the US and Israel and like that enough to look the other way about how horrible they are to the people of Yemen.

    • circuscriticEnglish
      2•4 months ago

      I can’t tell if you’re a troll, or actually insane. But I guess those don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

        • circuscriticEnglish
          4•4 months ago

          I’m having a hard time finding where I said that I wanted to live under Houthi rule, or when I denied their status as militant Islamists.

          Can you please scroll up to my other comments and point those out for me? Thanks in advance.

          Oh, and just a reminder to anyone who actually made it this far into this idiotic rabbit hole, my original comment was that it is entirely unsurprising that Yemeni civilians are buying arms to wherever they can, be it Twitter or a local marketplace, due to the past decade of conflict, years long aerial bombing campaign, and famine.

          • @[email protected]English
            -2•4 months ago

            You commented on air strikes but omitted the reason for the air strikes. I’ve corrected your omission.

            Also from the article:

            “It is inconceivable that they [the weapons dealers] are not operating on the Houthis’ behalf,” said the former British Ambassador to Yemen, Edmund Fitton-Brown, who now works for the Counter Extremism Project.

            Do you have any evidence to back up your claims that it’s Yemeni civilians that are buying the weapons to protect themselves from the Houthis? The ambassador indicates the Houthis would shut down such activity.

            What actual evidence do you have to support your claims?

            • circuscriticEnglish
              4•4 months ago

              Your reading comprehension is so absurdly bad, that I got to believe you’re either trolling, insane, or on a lot of Adderall. I’m out lol.

              • @[email protected]English
                0•4 months ago

                Did you even read the article we’re discussing before insulting me about my reading comprehension? Or even the summary?

                You can’t seem to grasp why it’s odd for you want to discuss anyone other than the Houthis in a discussion under an article that’s about the Houthis potentially using Twitter to buy weapons.

                I guess it’s my bad for assuming you read the article.

                • circuscriticEnglish
                  1•4 months ago

                  You mean the first three paragraphs describing a few ads on Twitter for weapons?

                  Followed by the BBC, quoting other British “NGO” organizations, trying to rally people to support additional actions against a group that Britain currently engaged in military actions against? Yes, I read that as well.

                  The article reads like two separate articles pasted together by a moron. The only connective tissue between the Twitter ads, and the Houthis, was that the weapons traders lived an area controlled by them. News flash, the Houthis control a majority of the country.

                  So again, in a country that has had an active civil war since 2014, it’s not surprising that people are selling weapons anywhere and everywhere, online, and off.