Yemen calls on UN to take stand on Houthi war crimes in Taiz

The Houthi militia besieged the villages of Al-Hima and Al-Haq in Taiz on Friday, killing four people, including a child, wounding seven others and extensively damaging and destroying several homes. (File/AP)

• Houthi militia besieged villages of Al-Hima and Al-Haq in Taiz on Friday

LONDON: Yemen called Saturday for the United Nations, the international community and human rights organizations to “take a clear position on the war crimes and brutal violations committed by the Houthi militia” in Yemen.
The head of the Yemeni government, Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, said they must take a stand on the violations that the Iran-backed militia have committed against the population in the Al-Hima area of northern Taiz, in southwestern Yemen.
The Houthi militia besieged the villages of Al-Hima and Al-Haq in Taiz on Friday, killing four people, including a child, wounding seven others and extensively damaging and destroying several homes.
The premier said that “the international community and its organizations are not content with standing idly by to the crimes of the Iranian-backed militia,” adding that “this position” encourages the Houthis to continue their crimes against unarmed civilians.
Abdulmalik made the comments during a phone call with Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan, in which the prime minister stressed that “the killing of children, women and civilians, random arrests, bombing of homes and forced displacement of residents will not be subjected to statute of limitations and the perpetrators will pay for their crimes,” reported the official Yemeni News Agency.
The governor briefed the prime minister on reports about the crimes committed by the Houthi militia, their siege and the bombing of residents’ homes and farms with rockets and artillery, killing of women and children, and kidnapping dozens of innocent people.