Yemen Tatars – Houthis destroy monuments and burn historical books

Aya Ezz

Few years ago, Yemen was prosperous, but the crises, chaos, political unrest and lack of security, have turned it into sadness and destruction.

This happened only after the Houthis committed coup d’état on the legitimate government in Yemen in 2014. Since then, Yemen became a weak state under the control of an Iranian-funded armed group, which destroyed its past and looted its history and demolished its present.

In recent weeks, Reuters has published a documentary showing the violations that Houthi committed against the history and monuments of Yemen. The documentary said that about 6,000 archeological houses built in mud bricks in Sana’a dating and dated back to the eleventh century, were completely destroyed by Houthis.

Reuters added that Houthis’ destruction of Yemeni archeology has affected many areas in Marib city, including the historic Al-Qahira citadel and the monuments of Zabid city which are  listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Also, ancient buildings of Sanaa, dating back more than 2,500 years, have been severely damaged.
According to Al-Yemen Al-Youm newspaper, Houthis began war with the Salafis in Dammaj village in the province of Saada in northern Yemen in 2014, targeting historic mosques in all governorates, most notably the mosque “Al-Omari”, located in the province of “Ibb”, which is one of the historical mosques in this area and dated back to the era of Omar ibn al-Khattab, a senior companion of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

The Houthi group not only planted explosive devices in the vicinity of the mosque “Dar al-Hadith” in Saada during the war with the Salafists, but also took all of its contents even the windows and doors and mattresses and food. They documented their crime by videographers belonging to Iranian al-Alam channel and al-Manar, a Lebanese channel affiliated to Hezbollah, according to the Yemeni newspaper Al-Yemen Al-Youm.

Houthi also sought to destroy the provinces of Lahj and Hadhramout. In early 2015, Houthi elements demolished a large number of historic houses dating back to the first years of the Prophet Muhammad’s migration, according to Yemeni official TV.

In the past months, Sky News published a report saying that the Houthi terrorist group planted hundreds of landmines in the historic city of Zabid in the province of Hodeidah. Zabid was in the thirteenth century the capital of Yemen. It was listed by UNESCO in 1993 as a historic city. Zabid is considered the first Islamic city in Yemen in 204 AH.
Even the historical Yemeni books did not survive the Houthi attacks. On January 11, 2016, the group shelled the Al-Said Foundation, one of the most important cultural institutions in Yemen, and caused the burning of thousands of books, papers and historical documents, according to Al-Yamen Al-Youm.

According to the same newspaper, on February 3, 2016, the Houthi group bombed the National Museum building in Taiz province. Ancient manuscripts dating back hundreds of years, and a large number of rare historical military documents, were burned in the bombing.

The groups also destroyed 12 archaeological sites, occupied them and converted most of them to military points belonging to their militias.