Houthis declare war on Yemen mosques, looting, threatening preachers

Eslam Mohamed

New charges have emerged against the Iranian-backed Houthi militia by Yemeni academics and archaeologists who said the terrorist group has looted a large number of ancient manuscripts from historic mosque libraries under the pretext of restoring them and destroying ancient manuscripts that contradict the ideology of the militia.

Prayers in some parts of Saada, northern Yemen, have been interrupted as Houthi militants forced preachers to promote for the terrorist group during their sermons.

The story began Thursday, when a group of Zaidi scholars issued instructions to mosque preachers to stop sermons in all mosques across the country after they were imprisoned and threatened by the Houthis.

The Houthis threatened mosque preachers in a message that said, “Either you join our side and mobilize in your mosques and everywhere against the aggression, the U.S. and Israel, then you should withdraw your preachers and guides from all provinces and stop preaching or delivering sermons, or you all will become our targets with no exceptions, as any preacher chooses to violate this will be killed instantly.”

The militia also looted mosques in the Houthis-controlled areas and isolated preachers who refused to obey them in the capital Sanaa and the provinces of Ibb and Hodeidah, replacing them with loyal preachers, and handing them ready copies of Friday sermons, which incite hatred.

Citizens in the Houthi-controlled areas have suffered from their practices such as uniting the Adhan (call for prayer), closing loudspeakers during Taraweeh prayers and night classes, and efforts to control mosques in the capital and the various governorates under their control and turning these mosques into places of sectarian mobilization.

Local sources reported that the Houthi coup militia continued to kidnap citizens in Sanaa during the first day of Eid al-Fitr. The Houthi militia abducted citizens because they refused to complete the holy month of Ramadan for 30 days, according to the militia announcement and their follow-up to the announcement of the Yemeni government.

The Houthi militia has so far destroyed over 750 mosques in Yemen, according to a report by a Yemeni group that monitored the violations from 2013 to 2016. The two-part study states that the Houthi’s bombing of mosques exposed the ideological, cultural and intellectual dimension of their war and pointed out that the mosques in the province of Saada and the capital Sanaa witnessed the largest cases of Houthi violations: 282 mosques in the capital and 115 in Saada.

In an interview with Mohammad Abadi, a researcher specializing in Iranian affairs, he said the terrorist militia has crossed all the red lines even against Zaidis who they claimed to be protecting and representing.

He also pointed out that violations by Houthis were not only regarding a unification of Friday sermons, but included violations against preachers who lecture the real teachings of religion, in an attempt to convert mosques into platforms that promotes for their devious schemes.

Abadi further added that the radical version of Shiism is not accepted in the north as the militia promotes to the outside world, which requires the support of tribes to get rid of Houthi’s authority.