6 villages were destroyed and 18 others attacked..Houthi militia commits war crimes in Abdiya

English - Sunday 17 October 2021 الساعة 08:44 am
Marib, NewsYemen, Private:

The Houthi militia (Friday) took control of the center of the "Al-Abdiya" district in the Ma'rib governorate, east of Sana'a, while the forces affiliated with the Yemeni government did not interfere during the days of the applied siege.

Al-Abdiya is located in the far south of Ma’rib, and is adjacent to the south by the Directorate of Mahlia, through which the asphalt line passes, which connects the governorates of Al-Bayda and Ma’rib, from the north by the districts of Ain and Harib, from the east by the districts of Al-Sawadiyah and Nu’man of the Al-Bayda governorate, and from the west by the Harib Al Jinnah district.

The district is inhabited by about 35,000 people, distributed among more than 15 tribes and 5,300 families in the heart of “Al-Abdiyah” and on its outskirts.

Al-Abdiyyah is of great strategic importance, as it oversees the southern regions of Marib, and is considered its southern gate. The Houthi militia had previously failed to control it during 2015.

But on Friday, October 15, 2021, the militia accomplished what it was unable to do nearly 6 years ago, as it stormed the center of the directorate, after battles and a siege applied for more than 23 days.

The Houthis attacked "Al-Abdiyah" from four axes: the first from the direction of "Mahliya", the second from the "Numan" side, Al-Bayda, and the third from the "Harib" side of Ma'rib, while they opened a fourth front from the direction of the Juba district after their control of the "Umm Reish" camp.

Houthi war crimes in Al-Abdiyah

The Houthi militia has carried out a series of violations in Abdiya, from the moments following its seizure of the center of the district, starting with cutting communication networks and isolating the area permanently.

 Local sources told NewsYemen that this Houthi measure comes with the aim of obscuring the critical humanitarian situation experienced by the residents of the region, after the Houthis took control of the district center, at a time when the militia continued its siege for more than three weeks.

The sources confirmed that the Houthi militia had carried out raids on homes in search of wounded tribesmen and weapons, while they were interrogating children, and killed a child named Nasser Al-Athari Al-Thabhi, who was no more than twelve years old.

The sources indicated that the terrorist Houthi militia caused the destruction of six villages in the district of Al-Abdiya through the intense and continuous bombing it launched on Abdiya.

 Local monitors have documented unprecedented waves of displacement of people to neighboring villages, while sources report that the Houthis are targeting with systematic attacks eighteen villages in the district, amid warnings of genocide and reprisals against defenseless civilians.

 A Protection Organization for Civil Orientation said that it had received confirmed reports of reprisals by the militia against the residents, including raiding homes, kidnapping the wounded, looting private property and burning agricultural crops.

The organization, based in the city of Ma'rib, monitored the flight of dozens of families from their villages and homes to the vicinity of the Abdiya district, in an internal displacement through reefs and valleys and in a tragic situation, and trees and huts became their new homes.

 She indicated, in tweets on her Twitter account, that the militia members killed a 12-year-old child in a village in the Abdiya district, stressing that impunity for criminals and lack of accountability enables them to commit other additional crimes against civilians.

 It is noteworthy that the Abdiya district of Marib includes many historical Shebaan and Islamic monuments, most notably the mosque of the great Tabi’i Uwais bin Amer Al-Qarni, in which he was born and lived for a period of time, as well as the historic village of Al-Hajar, the waterways of Ramda, Jerb Al-Souq, Al-Kharib, the villages of Al-Sail and Mount Wardan, which is considered one of the highest mountains in the world.  The level of Yemen and the highest mountain peak at the level of Ma'rib Governorate.

It also has the village of Al-Qira, the court, Wahid Al-Khidr, and many places that contain many ancient Sabaean inscriptions. It also has the largest dam in the Ma’rib Governorate after the Ma’rib Dam, which is the Al-Hajla Dam.