Hodeidah.. Houthi militia digs tunnels and expands minefields in Al-Duraihimi

Local authorities in Al Hudaydah Governorate (western Yemen) revealed that the terrorist Houthi militia has begun digging tunnels and expanding mine-planting operations in Al Duraihimi District, south of the governorate.

This came in a statement by the Human Rights Office in Al-Duraihimi District, on Monday, in which it condemned the operations of digging trenches and planting mines carried out by the Houthi militia in the district, stressing that these actions pose a serious threat to the lives of civilians and hinder the return of normal life to the region.

The office said in the statement published by the local authority media that since the militia returned to occupy the directorate, it has resumed practicing terrorist acts against civilians and subjecting them to sectarian courses, mobilizing and intellectually mobilizing youth, and practicing arrests of those who do not submit to their actions and ideas and fabricating malicious charges against them.

He added that the militias looted the directorate's revenues, imposed taxes on farmers, fishermen and livestock owners, and exploited international humanitarian aid.

He continued: "The militia exploited the coasts to attack territorial waters, international navigation, the region and neighboring countries, in addition to deploying heavy weapons on citizens' farms and storing light weapons in population centers that become threatened with danger, forcing them to be forcibly displaced and leave their property and lands."

The statement pointed out that these violations would not have occurred without the frightening international silence towards this terrorist gang and the crimes it commits against defenceless civilians in the areas under its control; calling on international bodies and human rights organisations to intervene urgently to stop these violations that are causing an increase in the human suffering of the residents of the directorate.

The Houthi militia has recently intensified its violations against civilians in various districts under its control in the governorate, as official and human rights reports indicate large-scale displacement operations that have affected residents in the districts of Al-Hawak, Bajil and Al-Jarrahi, in addition to preventing fishermen from fishing in the Al-Luhayyah district after it closed the port and turned it into a closed military zone.