Rights groups lay bare Al Houthi brutalities in Taiz

Indiscriminate shelling wreaking havoc on city, with 1,525 killed since March, right group says

At least 1,535 civilians have been killed in Al Houthi attacks in Taiz since March, local monitoring groups in Taiz told Gulf News yesterday.

The Humanitarian Centre for Rights and Development, a grouping of local human rights activists, said 166 children and 102 women were part of those killed.

Meanwhile, 221 activists who openly challenged Al Houthi occupation kidnapped

“The city is under tight siege from all sides and many residents are dying in hospitals because there is a shortage in oxygen,” Hamoud Saeed, an activist and co-author of the report, said.

Resistance fighters control much of the inner-city while Al Houthis are on the outskirts.

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Taiz

Children targeted

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Because Al Houthis are unable to penetrate the inner-city areas due to fierce resistance, they have resorted to indiscriminate shelling.

As a result, vulnerable civilians are being killed.

“Last month, a group of children near a drinking water tank were killed when a shell fell on them,” Saeed said. Others have been killed whilst playing football.

Taiz, the third largest city in Yemen, has been gripped by bloody clashes between Al Houthi militants backed by forces loyal to ousted Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Yemeni resistance fighters backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

The report was being sent to the United Nations and other international human rights organisations.

“The international community must grasp the gravity of the situation here,” Saeed said. “Al Houthis must be pressured to end the siege.”

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, resistance fighters told Gulf News at least four Al Houthis had been killed in an operation on Al Warag mountain.

Local military sources confirmed 15 Al Houthi forces killed on Friday in Jawf.

Consultation welcomed

Prime Minister Khaled Bahah on Friday stressed that his government is determined to end the war in Yemen as soon as possible and welcomed any “serious consultations” to end the killing.

Bahah was speaking during a meeting in Riyadh with advisers to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and a group of negotiators from Yemen’s government who are preparing for UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland.