Activist’s murder augurs end to Houthi coup in Yemen

Aya Ezz

Yemeni streets witness a massive popular uprising, following the killing of Yemeni activist, Hamdi al-Khawlani, nicknamed ‘al-Mukahal’ by the Houthi group, on Sunday.

The activist’s funeral turned into a major uprising, in which thousands of Yemenis participated in the city of Ibb.

Al-Mukahal was inside one of the militia prisons in Ibb, days after he was kidnapped. He was then killed and thrown into one of the buildings next to the prison in his killers’ bid to cover up the crime.

Unprecedented

Videos posted on social networking sites document anger among the mourners who condemned the murder of the young man by the Houthi militia.

They called for departure of the coup group from Yemeni cities.

However, the protesters, who gathered outside the Grand Mosque in Ibb, were attacked with gunfire by the Houthi militia.

This prompted them to take down the slogans of the militia inspired by what is known as ‘Khomeinism’ from above public buildings and tear them down.

This step is unprecedented and confirms growing popular rejection of the Houthi group.

In late October 2022, the group arrested al-Mukahal, for the second time, after a Houthi military campaign besieged his house and his residential neighbourhood in the old city in Ibb.

His arrest came against the background of broadcasting videos on the YouTube platform, in which he criticized the Houthi militia and its leader, as an expression of his condemnation of the difficult living conditions and abuses of the militia in areas under its control.

Containing anger

After intense protests in the city, which increased day by day, the coup group took a series of measures to contain the situation.

It began arresting dozens of citizens and accusing them of inciting protests.

The group also deployed hundreds of armed elements on the streets.

The Security Administration in the province also issued a statement, in which it accused the opposition of liquidating one of the detainees without mentioning any details about who carried out this action.

Funeral

For his part, Fahmi al-Zubairi, director-general of the Human Rights Office Sana’a, described the state of extreme anger witnessed in Ibb against the background of the murder of al-Mukahal.

He spoke of growing anger among millions of Yemenis against the Houthi group.

In an article, al-Zubairi talked about the activist’s funeral, referring to the participation of a large number of people in this funeral.

The participants, he said, raised revolutionary slogans and the Yemeni Republican flag.

He pointed out that the Houthi militia tried to stop this uprising by firing live ammunition to disperse the mourners.

No fear of death

Yemeni political activist, Abdulkader Naeem, said Yemenis are no longer afraid of death, due to the severity of Houthi violations and the cramped life imposed on them by the group.

“So death has become the eternal rest for us and salvation from this torment,” he told The Reference.

Naeem stressed that the killing of al-Mukahal was a spark of anger that would burn the Houthis soon, because Yemenis are no longer afraid of the many violations they have been subjected to.