Yemen’s Houthi militias targeted a school in Jazan

Yemen’s Houthi armed militias fired a ground-to-ground missile targeting a school in the Saudi Governorate of Samta in Jizan region, an official source at the Command of Coalition Forces to restore legitimacy in Yemen told the state-owned Saudi Press Agency.

The missile caused damage to the school located in the village of Al-Jaradiyah and its yard as well as to some properties of citizens. The source confirmed that Houthi armed militias do not hesitate to target schools and civilian facilities, which is a clear violation of the international humanitarian law.

The Saudi-led Arab military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi after the Houthis forced him into exile. The United Nations has listed Yemen as the world’s number one humanitarian crisis, with seven million Yemenis on the brink of famine and cholera, causing more than 2,000 deaths.

On the other hand, A number of areas under the control of the Yemeni insurgents, especially in the capital Sana’a and the province of Tihama, have witnessed a significant increase in cases of violations of the rights of civilians, amounting to approximately 120 cases per month, including killings, torture and armed robbery of properties and closing of Quran memorization institutes in some cities.

Civil rights organizations called for the speedy intervention of international bodies to stop these violations, which have increased with the progress of the National Army on a number of fronts near Sana’a, demanding the need to put pressure on the militias to stop recruiting children and abducting them from their homes.

According to the Yemeni Minister of Human Rights, 20,000 children from different cities were taken by the militias to the front lines.

Human rights activist in the province of Tihama Abdul Hafiz al-Hattami said that Houthi-Saleh militias have escalated the pace of violations against citizens and their private and public rights to intimidate them and prevent a possible revolution against them in a clear absence of many international organizations in this regard.

“The Yemeni citizen has become exposed to killing and torturing in the prisons of the insurgents; many teachers have not been released recently from prison and were subject to torture and murder in many cases. The most recent case was the killing of a family consisting of a mother and son, whose father works in the education sector,” Hattami added.

He pointed out that according to human rights reports, Dhamar city recorded in September 120 cases of violations of public and private properties, including recruiting children and forcing them to fight in the war without taking their parents’ permission and returning their corps.

Ibb city also recorded around 100 violations in September, represented in abducting, killing, stealing, raiding houses, attacking public sector employees and recruiting children by force, according to Hattami.

Hattami added that Hodeidah province, for its part, recorded 50 violations, including the killing of children, torturing, oppressing, stealing revenues of Hodeidah port and the costumes that amounted to nine billion in one month, imposing additional fees on the citizens and looting humanitarian aids.