The siege of Dammaj started in October 2011 when the Houthis, a Zaydi-led rebel group which controls the Sa'dah Governorate, accused Salafis loyal to the Yemeni government of smuggling weapons into their religious center in the town of Dammaj and demanded they hand over their weapons and military posts in the town. As the Salafis refused, Houthi rebels responded by imposing a siege on Dammaj, closing the main entrances leading to the town. The town was controlled by the Houthis and the fighting was mainly centered at Dar al-Hadith religious school, which is run by Salafis, although its founder imam Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i rejected Osama bin Laden in the 1990s. The Salafis from Dammaj and its Dar al-Hadith imam Sheikh Yahya al-Hajuri claimed that they are totally against al-Qaeda and all