Houthi militias continue to attack the residents of Khubzah village in Al-Bayda governorate, after besieging the region for a week, according to Yemeni sources.
The village, located at the foot of a mountain in the al-Qurayshiah district, is one of the villages that have taken the lead in fighting the militias since 2014.
Tribal sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis took advantage of the existing UN truce and attacked the villagers who agreed with the militias to refrain from entering their village in exchange for not targeting Houthi armed points.
A week after besieging Khubzah, the militias began attacking the 2,000 residents with various weapons, including missiles, according to the sources who described the attack as brutal.
The Yemeni authorities warned that the Houthi attack would affect the UN-sponsored truce.
Meanwhile, local sources said that the Houthi bombing had killed at least three civilians from the village amid fears that the militias would commit a mass massacre.
Tribal leaders in the governorate tried to mediate with the Houthi militias to stop the attack, but their efforts were in vain, and the group mobilized more forces.
Furthermore, social media activists called for government and international intervention to save the village's residents.
Yemeni politician and media figure Kamel al-Khoudani said that the Houthis had besieged Khubzah for a week.
Khoudanni tweeted that Houthis prevented anyone from entering or leaving the village, and they mobilized their vehicles, heavy weapons, and fighters to bomb the homes.
Human rights activist Huda al-Sarari called on the countries sponsoring the peace process in Yemen, the UN envoy, and the Security Council to condemn the Houthis' violation of the truce.
Information Ministry Undersecretary Abdul Basit al-Qaedi revealed that in 2015 the Houthi militia and the residents of Khubzah signed an agreement stipulating the group would withdraw from the village and refrain from attacking it, and in turn, the villagers would stop attacks on the militia's sites.
Government condemnation
Tribal leaders of the nearby region failed to stop the Houthi attack. The leadership of the Al-Bayda governorate issued a statement condemning the Houthi violations in the village.
The leadership said that the militias committed a flagrant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law and that the militia systematically attacked the people of the Khubzah area.
The statement described crimes that target civilians as "a real threat to peace" in Yemen in light of the fragile UN truce, calling on the UN and US envoys to condemn the Houthi crimes in the Al-Bayda governorate explicitly.
It also called on the UN, the Human Rights Council, civil society organizations, and international agencies to pressure Houthi militias to stop the violations and crimes they are committing against civilians.
The Yemeni Human Rights Ministry condemned the Houthi terrorist attack on Khubzah and its attempt to enter the village using medium and heavy weapons.
The statement warned that the continued invasion of the village would affect the truce and undermine the efforts made by the coalition to support legitimacy led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The Ministry demanded speedy regional and international action to pressure the Houthi militia to end their blatant attack and abide by the truce.
The statement denied the misleading reports issued by the Houthi media regarding the attack of a resident on a Houthi military post, asserting it was a pretext to storm the area and abuse its people.
In turn, the Yemeni Minister of Information, Moammar al-Eryani, condemned the Houthi militia's unjust siege on Khubzah and indiscriminate bombing of citizens with tanks and artillery, which injured women and children and destroyed several houses.
He said the "International community, UN, and US envoys are urged to condemn this brutal attack, pressure Houthi militia to end atrocities, prosecute perpetrators in international courts, and lift the siege on Khubzah immediately, open safe corridors for citizens, and allow treatment of the injured."
