DUBAI: The Houthi militia committed 2,158 transgressions against religious leaders, mosques and other places of worship in Yemen during the first four months of this year, according rights group Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms.
The group documented Houthi religious violence in 14 Yemeni governorates: Sana’a capital city, Amran, Hajjah, Saada, Al-Jawf, Marib, Dhamar, Ibb, Al-Bayda, Al-Dhalea, Taiz, Raymah and Al-Mahwit, including the killing of imams and preachers, as well as causing injuries, beating worshipers, kidnapping imams and worshipers, torture and prohibiting Tarawih prayers in the month of Ramadan.
The rights organization also reported that the Iran-backed group imposed on preachers Houthi ideologies as well as converted mosques into schools for sectarian radicalization of children.
Rashad Al-Alimi, who was appointed head of the Presidential Leadership Council on April 7 after former President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi transferred his powers to the council, had called on the Houthis to keep to the UN-brokered truce.
The two-month ceasefire, which began at the start of Ramadan, has been repeatedly violated by the Iran-backed militia, particularly in Marib where they used the cessation of hostilities to gain strategic advantage in the area.
The truce received a heavy blow when the first commercial flight from Sanaa airport was postponed as the Houthis insisted on adding dozens of passengers with unofficial passports.
