Yemeni analyst reveals Houthi plots to plunder Yemen’s wealth and history
Archeological areas controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia have been continuously excavated and vandalized in search of treasures and antiquities, amid calls to stop the militia’s systematic practices and flagrant violation of international laws, demanding the inclusion of the militias and their leaders on terrorism lists.
Houthi terrorism
Antiquities have been subjected to systematic looting and smuggling, their trade is now very popular in public markets, and militias have continued to destroy infrastructure through indiscriminate shelling and to turn schools and hospitals into military workshops, warehouses, operations rooms and headquarters for the war against Yemenis, in a new expansion of their crimes, which have affected all areas, Roaya reported.
Archeological sites in provinces under militia control are subject to constant excavation, with the aim of searching for treasures and antiquities that are smuggled abroad and sold at international auctions.
Houthi leaders are leading the systematic destruction of historical sites through unscientific excavations, and these sites are being bulldozed despite the Yemeni government’s continuous calls and appeals to protect antiquities from extinction due to Houthi violations.
Wide dredging
Yemeni analyst Abdul Hafeez Nahari says that large-scale bulldozing and excavation operations have been carried out against ancient archeological sites in Ibb and Dhamar governorates in central Yemen by armed elements of the Houthi terrorist militia.
Random excavation operations were carried out at the site in search of buried treasures and valuable relics that could be smuggled and sold abroad, he said. The Houthi terrorist militia destroyed infrastructure, turning facilities and service buildings into centers for recruiting, preparing and recruiting children and young people, sending them to camps to fuel its war against Yemenis.
Terrorist practices have destroyed key infrastructure, he said, adding that the destruction of the militias cannot be restored easily. Houthi militias are continuing their destruction of schools, institutes, universities, health centers, roads and bridges in various provinces, he said, describing the targeting of villages and homes as a systematic act of revenge after they failed to achieve any military achievement.
Human rights reports said that the coup militias aimed to destroy infrastructure through indiscriminate shelling of cities and populated areas and destruction of factories, companies, social welfare homes and mosques.