‘Unidentified Corpses’ Raise Doubts about Houthi Killing of Detainees

Houthis bury unidentified bodies in mass graves (Houthi media)
Houthis bury unidentified bodies in mass graves (Houthi media)
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‘Unidentified Corpses’ Raise Doubts about Houthi Killing of Detainees

Houthis bury unidentified bodies in mass graves (Houthi media)
Houthis bury unidentified bodies in mass graves (Houthi media)

Houthi militias in Yemen announced a few days ago that dozens of bodies were buried in mass graves in Sanaa. The Iran-backed group claimed that those laid to rest were “unidentified.”

Houthis currently face grave accusations of torturing detainees to death, hiding their bodies for some time and then burying them in mass graves across different Houthi-run governorates.

Public Prosecution in Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis, has launched alongside the International Committee of the Red Cross the first phase of burying 28 unidentified corpses, reported the Houthi version of the official Saba news agency.

While Houthi media did not disclose any other details related to the identity of these bodies, a source close to the group’s ruling department in Sanaa revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there are three women among the 28 getting buried.

According to the source, who requested anonymity, the unidentified bodies were placed in airtight bags so that none of the parties involved in the burial would recognize them.

Reports prepared by the internationally-recognized government reveal that more than 300 abductees who were forcibly kidnapped by the militias had died under torture.

Activists and local human rights organizations had previously accused the militias of digging mass graves for dozens of civilians who died under torture in their detention centers.

Houthis, however, claim that those buried were unidentified individuals found in hospital mortuaries in several cities under their control.

In 2020, the Iran-backed militia buried 232 bodies out of a total of 715 in graves across Sanaa, Hodeidah, and Dhamar. Houthis also claimed that the corpses were unidentified. The burials took place over three phases.

Irada Organization for Combating Torture and Enforced Disappearance, a human rights NGO, had accused Houthis of torturing detainees to death and hiding their bodies.

In a statement, the organization called for an international investigation into the Houthis’ burial of hundreds of unidentified bodies, blaming the militias for the lives of all those killed.



US Troops Need to Stay in Syria to Counter ISIS, Austin Says

FILE - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
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US Troops Need to Stay in Syria to Counter ISIS, Austin Says

FILE - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

The US needs to keep troops deployed in Syria to prevent the ISIS group from reconstituting as a major threat following the ouster of Bashar Assad's government, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told The Associated Press.
American forces are still needed there, particularly to ensure the security of detention camps holding tens of thousands of former ISIS fighters and family members, Austin said Wednesday in one of his final interviews before he leaves office.
According to estimates, there are as many as 8,000-10,000 ISIS fighters in the camps, and at least 2,000 of them are considered to be very dangerous.
If Syria is left unprotected, “I think ISIS fighters would enter back into the mainstream,” Austin said at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he traveled to discuss military aid for Ukraine with about 50 partner nations.
“I think that we still have some work to do in terms of keeping a foot on the throat of ISIS," he said.
President-elect Donald Trump tried to withdraw all forces from Syria in 2018 during his first term, which prompted the resignation of former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. As the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, advanced against Assad last month, Trump posted on social media that the US military needed to stay out of the conflict.
The US has about 2,000 troops in Syria to counter ISIS, up significantly from the 900 forces that officials said for years was the total number there. They were sent in 2015 after the militant group had conquered a large swath of Syria.
The continued presence of US troops was put into question after a lightning insurgency ousted Assad on Dec. 8, ending his family’s decades long rule.
US forces have worked with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on operations against ISIS, providing cover for the group that Türkiye considers an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it identifies as a terror organization.
The Syrian transitional government is still taking shape, and uncertainty remains on what that will mean going forward.
The SDF “have been good partners. At some point, the SDF may very well be absorbed into the Syrian military and then Syria would own all the (ISIS detention) camps and hopefully keep control of them,” Austin said. "But for now I think we have to protect our interests there.”