Yemeni gov’t: Houthis executed civilians in SW

By Muhammed Semiz

ISTANBUL (AA) – Yemen’s government said Friday that Houthi militias have committed "barbaric terrorist crimes" in the country’s southwest, including executing civilians.

Iranian-backed Houthi militias raided homes and executed civilians in public squares in the al-Khayme region in the Taiz province, just as al-Qaeda and Daesh/ISIS terrorists did, Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Iryani said on Twitter.

“The hanging of civilians from trees show the Houthis are a disgrace to humanity,” he said.

He called on the international community to condemn the war crimes committed by Houthi militias, to put them on lists of terrorists, and to punish their leaders.

In recent days, photos and videos of human corpses hanging on trees have been widely shared by Yemeni human rights activists on social media.

On Jan. 8, the Yemen Human Rights and Freedoms Network called on the UN to pressure Iranian-backed Houthi militias to cease what they said are abuses in southern Yemen.

In a statement, the network noted that seven civilians, mostly women and children, were killed and 11 others injured in Houthi attacks in the northern part of the Taiz province over the last two days.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict in Yemen has so far claimed the lives of 233,000 people.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz