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Sanaa -

The death of civilians in the bombing of homes by security forces affiliated with the Ansar Allah Houthi group in the city of Radaa in Al-Bayda Governorate in central Yemen, last Tuesday, ignited widespread anger among Yemenis.

The bombing led to the demolition of a number of houses in the Al-Hafra neighborhood, killing 12 civilians and wounding 5 others, including women and children, most of whom were sleeping in their homes, not knowing that it would fall on their heads.

The news struck everyone, especially the leaders of the Ansar Allah Houthi group, who were quick to condemn the incident and considered it a "heinous, irresponsible, and unacceptable crime."

It is true that the perpetrators of the Radaa crime are the ones who bear responsibility for it, but its causing the death of such a large number of citizens, including women and children, and in this manner and at this particular time is a dangerous indicator of the existence of many grievances that Ansar Allah must move quickly to resolve, before they cause dissipation. Reasons for victory. pic.twitter.com/loaLs51Riy

- Muhammad Al-Bukhaiti (@M_N_Albukhaiti) March 20, 2024

Convictions and dismissals

The Ministry of Interior in Sana'a, headed by Major General Abdul Karim Al Houthi, uncle of the group's leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi, took decisions to dismiss the security directors in Radaa City and Al Bayda Governorate, and to arrest the members of the security campaign and those responsible for it.

Investigation committees were also formed, headed by Major General Abdul Majeed Al-Murtada, Deputy Minister of Interior, along with leader Muhammad Al-Bukhaiti, member of the Ansar Allah Political Bureau.

The Houthis considered the crime of the bombing an individual and irresponsible act and the use of excessive, illegal force by security personnel, and they promised to hold all those responsible accountable, refer them to trial, and compensate the victims. The head of the Supreme Political Council in Sanaa, Mahdi Al-Mashat, condemned the operation, considering it "unfortunate" and affirming "the state's intention to punish and prosecute those involved."

In turn, leader Muhammad Al-Bukhaiti wrote on the May God take urgent action to solve it, before it causes the reasons for victory to disappear.”

Al-Bukhaiti considered that "America's late condemnation of the Radaa crime - after it was condemned by the Houthi government in Sana'a - does not express humanitarian motives, but rather satanic motives to stir up strife."

Pro-Houthi activists warned of serious consequences of the bombing incident, and the opposition parliamentarian in Sanaa said, "If there is no real change in the current governance system in Sanaa after what happened in Radaa, then I see a big storm or resurrection approaching."

The Yemeni city of Radaa, archive photo (Al Jazeera)

The beginning of the story

Those close to Al-Zayla’i’s house tell the story of what happened in Radaa as follows:

  • About a year ago, the son-in-law of the Houthi supervisor, Abu Hussein Al-Harman Al-Awkabi, killed the citizen Saif Ibrahim Al-Zailai without any guilt.

  • The blood guardians of Al-Zayla’i’s family sought the officials of the state authorities led by Ansar Allah Al-Houthis since 2014, but they did not take action or decide on the case.

  • On Monday, March 18, Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Zayla’i saw his brother’s killer on top of a military vehicle, so he shot him, killing him and another person next to him, and wounding two other members of the vehicle.

  • Following the incident, a security force headed to Al-Hafra neighborhood in Radaa to arrest Abdullah Al-Zailai, but he had fled outside the city, so they surrounded his family’s home.

  • On Tuesday morning, the seventh of this Ramadan, a security force blew up Al-Zayla’i’s house after emptying it of its residents.

  • The bombing of the house led to the demolition of adjacent houses, such as the house of Al-Naqus, Al-Yarimi, and Majaher, killing 20 civilians and wounding others, including women and children.

Observers saw that whoever blew up the homes of citizens in Radaa, “shrapnel hit him, and its remains scattered, shattering his face, distorting his image, which he had worked on for years, and arousing accumulated anger in him that will not go away with the passage of days.”

Many believe that the force of the bombings caused adverse repercussions on their perpetrators, those who ordered them, and their planners, and caused major dents “in the face of the group controlling the reins of the state in Sanaa.”

The Houthi justification for the Radaa crime is no less bad than the crime itself. The process of bombing houses cannot be an individual act, as the Houthi security statement claimed. Such a complex operation can only be carried out by a Houthi team specialized in booby-trapping buildings, whose members are distributed across the various governorates under the control of the militia... pic.twitter.com/RuLSzPl4EH

- Saleh Al Baidhani Saleh Al Baidhani (@salehalbaydani) March 19, 2024

Government campaign

The internationally recognized Yemeni government launched a major campaign to condemn the Houthis, and demanded that the Security Council condemn the group and its approach to bombing the homes of its opponents and opponents.

The Yemeni government's Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Muammar Al-Eryani, said, "Since the coup, the Houthi militia has taken the policy of bombing houses and forcibly displacing their residents, as an approach and method to terrorize citizens and take revenge on those who oppose its coup project."

He added that human rights organizations documented the Houthi group's bombing of 900 homes of state, army, and security leaders, politicians, media figures, sheikhs, and citizens in 16 Yemeni governorates, "revealing its true face as a terrorist organization, and that it is a tool for killing and destruction and cannot be a real partner in building peace."

For his part, Abdullah Al-Alimi, Vice Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said, “The Radaa crime, despite its heinousness, is not the first and will not be the last, and it is just an episode in a long series of crimes committed by this group against the Yemenis throughout their modern and contemporary history.”

He stressed that "these crimes will not be subject to a statute of limitations," and said, "Perhaps God wanted them to reveal the Houthi allegations that claim to support the oppressed among our brothers in Palestine."

Al-Alimi held a meeting last Wednesday in Aden with senior state officials, and directed the Yemeni government to quickly make amends to the families of the martyrs and the injured, and to take coordinated measures with various concerned parties to document the crime, immortalize its victims, and ensure that its perpetrators do not escape punishment nationally and internationally.

The directives included "approving salaries for crime victims, considering them as martyrs on the Ministry of Interior's lists, and providing the necessary assistance and care to those injured in the terrorist bombing."

Individual transgressions

On the other hand, the leader of Ansar Allah Al-Houthi, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, explained yesterday, Thursday, “There was a targeting of security personnel in the city of Radaa, which resulted in the martyrdom of two of them. The reaction of some of the security forces was aggression, barbaric and illegal behavior, and the bombing of a house surrounded by other houses. The tragedy was the martyrdom and wounding of some.” Of the people, their homes were damaged and some of them were demolished.”

Al-Houthi extended his condolences and sympathy to all the families of the martyrs in Radaa, and said, "We absolve God Almighty of these transgressions, attacks, and the like."

He added, "Individual transgressions and attacks that occur from a person affiliated with the security services or others, which are transgressions that involve injustice or aggression, do not express us and are not part of our morals, religion, or values."

Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi stressed, "Yemeni blood is precious to us, and we will spare no effort to ensure that blood, honor, and property are protected. The people of Radaa are our family, our sons, and our brothers, and we are suffering from what happened there."

Source: Al Jazeera