Iran-backed Houthis arrest dozens of civilians in five Yemeni provinces

Iran-backed Houthis have arrested more than 70 civilians in the past two weeks in the provinces of Hodeidah, Amran, Hajah, Ibb, and Dhamar, based on fabricated charges, amidst ongoing calls to the United Nations and the international community to put an end to the group's violations.

Human rights sources said that the son of the Houthi leader, Mohammed Ayash, appointed as governor of Hodeidah, kidnapped four people in the coastal city of Hodeidah and imprisoned them in an attempt to cover up a large-scale land confiscating crime.

In the province of Amran (north of Sanaa), Houthi members attacked a tribal the leader Hamid Qasim Al-Ghuli, who is one of the sheikhs of the Ghula area in the directorate of Raydah, before engaging in a confrontation with him and injuring him, due to his slapping a Houthi supervisor in response to his crimes against him and against the people of his area.

Tribal sources in Amran said that the Houthis have kidnapped the tribal leader, and refused to disclose his fate.

This incident came in parallel to armed men affiliated with the so-called "Morality Police" of the Houthi militias kidnapping over 20 singers, sound engineers, and wedding hall owners from various areas in the province of Amran. This is part of the group's trend towards restricting freedoms, banning singing, and imposing strict instructions reminiscent of extremist terrorist organizations.

The Houthis carried out a campaign at the beginning of last May, during which they closed around 8 wedding halls, arrested some of their owners, arresred 4 singers on charges of fighting singing at weddings.

Human rights sources reported that the campaign terrified women and children, and kidnapped about 7 civilians from one family in the same area after they refused to join to fight with Houthis.