Almost 1,000 fighters were killed in Ma’ain because of the Houthi
The Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen organized a photo showing to honor those who died in the battle, and revealed that almost 1,000 recruits were murdered from a single district in Sanaa, which incited several Yemeni families to demand that the Houthis reveal the fate of their relatives, who were recruited and deployed to front lines in recent months.
Indeed, many families in Sanaa’s second largest district, Ma’ain, have accused the militias of kidnapping youths and minors, teaching them a sectarian program and then sending them to frontlines where they are used as cannon fodder.
Sanaa-based sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the accusation comes after that dozens of families, whose children have disappeared, were shocked by the portraits Houthis suspended around a parliament building under construction to commemorate those murdered in the fight.
Houthis have set up almost 176 posters that collectively show the portraits of around 1,060 dead fighters, most of whom were youths from Ma’ain’s three main neighborhoods.
On his part, Hammoud Abad, who works as a senior Houthi administrator in Sanaa, had presented another permanent exposition dedicated to the group’s Sanaa martyrs in early January.
Otherwise, in Ma’ain, Yemeni families are protesting against the Houthis’ constant targeting of youths and minors for recruitment. They accuse coup militias of cheating and indoctrination their children to use them to made their war agenda.
Sources affirmed that Houthis are still looking for recruitment more youths. They explained that most of the youth and child soldiers whose portraits have been shown in the expositions did not join the fight because of their convictions, but because they were obliged to go to the recruitment and indoctrination methods adopted by Houthis,
Residents in Sanaa stated that the group is now implementing a large field recruitment campaigns with the aim of attracting new fighters, most of them are youth and children.
