Houthis kill journalists in Taez ‘on purpose’
Three reporters fatally hit by shelling yesterday were the victims of rebels’ intentional targeting, says their colleague
ADEN // Three journalists were killed and two wounded as Houthi rebels shelled eastern Taez yesterday morning, lifting the toll of civilians killed by the rebels in the city this week to 19.
The journalists were hit as they covered clashes between the Houthis and pro- government forces near the Republican Palace, said Abdul Nasser Salah, their friend and fellow journalist.
He identified the slain journalists as Anwar Al Absi, Taqi Al Hothaifi and Sa’ad Al Nidhari, while Waleed Al Qadasi and Salah Al Wahbai were injured.
All of them were freelance reporters.
The victims had covered the advance of pro-government forces on various fronts in Taez city and usually followed them on foot, said Mr Salah.
Rebel shelling killed three journalists in Taez last year and injured several others. Mr Salah said his friends were purposely targeted. “The Houthi snipers observed their movement in the area around the palace from the mountains,” he said.
“They target journalists deliberately to stop us from saying the truth, but we will not stop. Rather, this will encourage us.”
Since Monday, 16 more civilians, including children, had been killed in rebel shelling, said
‘ They target journalists deliberately to stop us from saying the truth, but we will not stop. Abdul Nasser Salah Yemeni journalist
the head of Taez city’s healthcare services.
Fighting on the eastern front of Taez resumed three days ago. Pro- government forces recaptured the central bank office and some buildings of Taez University before the clashes spread to areas around the Republican Palace.
The south-western city, the capital of Taez province, was the site of some of the fiercest fighting since the Houthi rebels and their allies overran Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, in September 2014 and then seized much of the rest of country.
Forces loyal to president Ab- drabu Mansur Hadi, whose government is in the southern port city of Aden, have retaken southern Yemen with the support of a Saudi-led military coalition. But most of the north and the Red Sea coast remain in rebel hands.
Several rounds of talks backed by the United Nations have failed to end the conflict. On Thursday, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN envoy to Yemen, left Sanaa after failing to secure agreement to a ceasefire for Ramadan. foreign.desk@thenational.ae * With reporting from Agence France-Presse