Al Hudaydah: Widespread Houthi violations and a remarkable military build-up before the eyes of the UN mission (special report)

In recent weeks, the terrorist Houthi militia has intensified its widespread violations against the residents of many directorates that are still under its control in Al Hudaydah Governorate (western Yemen), in conjunction with intensive military mobilizations and movements, in full view of the UN mission, which remains silent about everything that is happening.

Official and human rights sources told Yemen Youth Net that the Houthi militia has intensified its violations against civilians in various districts under its control in the governorate during recent weeks, and carried out large-scale displacement operations that 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.

The sources explained that this coincided with a large mobilization of the militia, which brought in hundreds of military vehicles, including "guided missile platforms, Katyusha batteries, howitzers, four-wheel drive vehicles, and motorcycles," in addition to engineering construction equipment and hundreds of armed elements, and deployed them in the areas from which the residents were displaced, and doubled the digging of tunnels and the construction of fortifications and trenches.

The sources indicated that the militia carried out naval and land military maneuvers in full view of the international mission, which did not move a finger in this regard and continues to submit biased reports periodically without clarifying to the international community the reality of what is happening on the ground.

New victims

Hardly a day goes by in Hodeidah without the Houthi militia committing a crime against the residents of the areas under its control or the liberated areas that are targeted by death shells through the bombing that targets residents and displaced persons alike, or through explosives and mines buried underground that it has planted in an unprecedented manner.

The latest victim of the militia’s crimes in the governorate was citizen “Faisal Amer Ahmed Hassan Mughini”, who was injured last Saturday evening by shrapnel from a mortar shell fired by the Houthi militia on the village of “Dubas” northeast of Hays, which resulted in the amputation of his right hand. The night before, a young man in his twenties was seriously injured, resulting in the amputation of one of his legs, as a result of the explosion of a landmine left by the militia in the village of “Akda” in the Al-Jarahi district while he was transporting his household furniture on his motorcycle, after the militias forced his family to forcibly displace along with the residents of the village and four neighboring villages.

The victim as a result of mines is the 75th civilian in the governorate since the beginning of this year (31 dead, 44 wounded) according to the cumulative statistics of the UN mission.

Before that - late last October - a girl named (Shaima Jalmoud - 7 years old) was killed and a woman named "Amina Hussein Ismail Jaloum" was injured by shrapnel from a mortar shell fired by the terrorist Houthi militia on one of the villages of the coastal Al-Haymah area, which is administratively affiliated with the At-Tahitan Directorate and is crowded with displaced people.

Displacement, digging tunnels and planting mines

Deputy Director General of the Human Rights Office in Al Hudaydah Governorate, Ghaleb Al-Qadimi, spoke about the violations that have affected the residents of the governorate in recent weeks, and said, "The militia gave the residents of the Manzar area, affiliated with Al-Hawk Directorate, south of Al Hudaydah Airport, five days to evacuate their homes without providing any justifications, and they began building a wall surrounding the villages in the area completely, closing all of its exits except for one entrance."

Al-Qadimi pointed out in a statement published by the local authority media in the governorate on Monday that the Houthi militia displaced the residents of five villages south of Al-Jarahi city, and forced the residents to evacuate their homes under threat of arms, which increased the suffering of the residents who are now facing difficult humanitarian conditions, especially with the absence of support from international and local organizations, after they lost their homes and farms, which were their main source of livelihood.

He pointed out that the Houthi militias have recently intensified the digging of tunnels and trenches in Al-Duraihimi District, and have displaced residents of villages on the Haradh-Hodeidah line, affiliated with Bajil District, and have turned the Al-Khobah fish port in Al-Luhayyah District into a closed military zone, preventing fishermen from practicing their usual activities, which reflects a state of unprecedented military mobilization in Hodeidah, which aims to transform it into a complete military barracks.

At the same time, the Human Rights Office in Al-Duraihimi District revealed that the terrorist Houthi militia had begun digging tunnels and expanding mine-planting operations in the district, south of the governorate, 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 humanitarian suffering of the residents of the directorate.

Violations before the eyes of "UNMHA"

Director General of Information in Al Hudaydah Governorate (Ali Hamid Al Ahdal) confirmed that the displacement operations and violations committed by the Houthi militia against the population, the majority of whom are farmers, will cause the population to lose their livelihood and the livelihood of their children, and this displacement will lead to the destruction of hundreds of farms located in these areas after the displacement of their residents from them.

Al-Ahdal explained that the Houthi militia - according to field information - will expand the displacement operations to the districts of At-Tuhayta, Bayt Al-Faqih, and Ad-Durayhimi, reaching the neighborhoods of Al-Rabsa and Al-Matar in Al-Hawak District, and the nineties and fifty, Al-Masna village, and Al-Saleh city in Al-Hali District, and all areas located on the coastal strip of Al-Salif, Al-Qanawis, and Al-Luhayyah.

In a special statement to "Yemeni Youth Net", he stressed that the legitimate local authority has local monitors who work daily in all the directorates that are still under the occupation of the Houthi militias, documenting the violations and providing them to local and international organizations and raising them to the responsible authorities in the government and international organizations, calling in this context on local and international human rights organizations to document those crimes that do not expire with the passage of time and in a way that contributes to bringing those involved in those crimes to trial.

Al-Ahdal accused the United Nations Mission (UNMHA) of colluding with the Houthi militia, which is committing these violations in full view of them, stressing that it did not carry out its mission entrusted to it under the Stockholm Agreement, which is to stop the militia’s crimes against citizens and submit clear reports to the international community regarding this.

The Director of Media in Hodeidah added that the local authority and the legitimate government stopped dealing with the UN mission for more than three years, and after it tried to get out of the Houthi cloak and opened an office for it in Mokha, we resumed dealing with it, but in truth, it has not yet done its duty and the work that it should have done since the moment it arrived in Hodeidah.

He pointed out that the militia's efforts to detonate the situation militarily in Hodeidah and its continued threat to international navigation may lead to a change in the international position, which was previously reserved regarding the decision to liberate Hodeidah and respond to the legitimate government's demands to liberate the governorate and extend its influence over all its land and waters, and thus will end the work of the mission that did not carry out the duty for which it was formed.

Editing is the solution

Regarding the way to stop the violations and crimes of the Houthi militia against Hodeidah and its people, the Director General of the Media Office in Hodeidah confirmed that liberating the governorate from the Houthi militia, which he said was imminent, is the only solution.

Speaking to "Yemeni Youth Net", he added, "What the Houthi militia is doing at the present time in terms of a very large mobilization and the violations that accompany it is only the beginning of the end, God willing."

Al-Ahdal reassured the citizens in the occupied directorates to trust that the legitimate government, the Arab coalition, and the regional and international community will not remain silent regarding the Houthi actions that harm the people of the governorate and harm the Yemenis as a whole, adding that the governorate has an appointment with imminent liberation, and that the state will not be satisfied with anything less than extending its influence over the entire territory of the governorate and the homeland.

He continued, "We assure everyone that the joint forces with all their formations (the Tihama Brigades, the Zaraniq Brigades, the Giants Brigades, and the National Resistance Brigades) are ready to liberate the governorate and are only waiting for decisions in this regard from the military and political leadership. All that the Houthi militia is doing in terms of mobilizations to the Hodeidah Governorate is nothing but a prelude to its destruction and end."

Al-Ahdal concluded his statement by saying, “Al-Hodeidah Governorate will be a graveyard for anyone who will be involved in throwing their children into the militia. This is a call to the people of the occupied governorates, whose children the militia unfortunately managed to deceive, attract, and push into Al-Hodeidah Governorate, to protect their children, as Al-Hodeidah will be a graveyard for anyone who participates in the militia’s battles against the people of the governorate or plunders its resources.”