Houthi rebels admit kidnapping 2,850 civilians in one year

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels admitted to kidnapping 2,856 civilians, including women, from several governorates subject to the coup during the past 12 months.

In this context, human rights sources in Sana’a revealed to Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi rebels have intensified over the past few months and weeks of campaigns of persecution and kidnapping against hundreds of civilians in Sana’a and in a number of areas.

Houthi leader, Abdul Malik Al-Ajri, the militia’s interior spokesman, confessed during a recent press conference in Sana’a that his group had kidnapped 2,856 civilians during the past Hijri year.

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He stated that his group’s security services had kidnapped 2,619 civilians from separate areas on charges of supporting the coalition to support legitimacy. 183 civilians had been picked up on charges of rallying to the ranks of the legitimate government, in addition to kidnapping 54 other citizens after accusing them of spying and monitoring coordinates against its sites and senior leaders.

As per media reports, Yemeni government officials urged the international community to condemn the crimes committed by the rebels and prosecute those responsible at the International Criminal Court.

This development comes as the rebels and the government, under the auspices of the United Nations, agreed to a nationwide ceasefire.

A two-month truce went into effect in April and was renewed twice.

Yemen is witnessing an ongoing war between forces loyal to the legitimate government, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled governorates, including Sanaa, since September 2014.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people directly or indirectly and has left millions on the brink of starvation in what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. 

This tragic war also led to the loss of the country’s economy of 126 billion dollars, in one of the worst humanitarian and economic crises in the world.

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