Houthis Prepare for New Mass Executions in Sanaa

Defendants are lined up before their execution by a Houthi firing squad in a public square in Sanaa on September 18 (Reuters)
Defendants are lined up before their execution by a Houthi firing squad in a public square in Sanaa on September 18 (Reuters)
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Houthis Prepare for New Mass Executions in Sanaa

Defendants are lined up before their execution by a Houthi firing squad in a public square in Sanaa on September 18 (Reuters)
Defendants are lined up before their execution by a Houthi firing squad in a public square in Sanaa on September 18 (Reuters)

Parallel to a military escalation that Houthi militias are staging in Yemen's Shabwah governorate, human rights sources warn that the Iran-backed guerrillas are planning to stage mass executions in the capital, Sanaa.

According to human rights groups, Houthis will execute 11 civilians, including two women, whom they are accusing of espionage.

A few days ago, Houthis were internationally condemned for putting to death nine civilians, including a minor, in central Sanaa's Tahrir square.

The internationally recognized government also condemned the brutal killings and said they amounted to a war crime.

Yemeni human rights sources stated that the militias, through a court under their control, issued an order to execute 11 people on charges of espionage, and to confiscate their money to its treasury.

According to the sources, those threatened with execution are: Muhammad al-Maliki, Ali Muhammad al-Shahdhi, Hanan Mutahar Ahmad al-Shahdi, Altaf Yahya al-Matari, Najib Ali al-Baadani, Samir Mosad al-Ammari, Issam Muhammad al-Faqih, Abdullah Abdullah Muqraish, Nabil Hadi al-Ansi, Abdullah Ali al-Khayyat and Abdullah Muhammad Sawar.

Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Muammar al-Eryani revealed that Houthis had asked the families of the nine civilians executed on September 18 to leave their homes and assets and to pay.

More so, Houthis are demanding each family pay a court fee of 3 million Yemeni rials for the unfair trials it held for their now-deceased relatives.

In a post on Twitter, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Muammar al-Eryani said the executions had been carried out in "cold blood".

The Houthis handed over the bodies to the victims' families "with the stipulation that they be buried silently and not [prayed for] in mosques," nor could the families attend their funerals or receive condolences for them, he said.

Eryani considered "the punitive practices pursued by the terrorist Houthi militia against the families of the victims a blatant challenge to the international community, which has condemned and continues to condemn this heinous crime, and a flagrant violation of international laws and covenants, foremost of which is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.