What did the autopsy of Yemeni official killed with Saleh reveal?

The body of Aref al-Zouka, the secretary general of the General People’s Congress, who was killed alongside former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday by Houthi militias, arrived in his hometown in the governorate of Shabwa, east of Yemen, sources said.

A preliminary autopsy of the body revealed Zouka was killed by gunshots fired from a close range.

According to sources from Zouka’s family and medical sources, Zouka’s body was delivered by Houthi militias on Thursday to the Ateq Hospital in Shabwa. Tribal mediations facilitated transferring the body to Shabwa as Houthis were trying to pressure Zouka’s family to bury him in Sanaa.

Killed after hospitalization?

A medical source at the hospital said the gunshots on Zouka’s body were fired from a close range which means that it’s possible that Houthis killed him after hospitalizing him for minor injuries. This matches what Zouka’s party officials previously said.

He noted that according to the preliminary autopsy, there are six gun wounds in the body and two in the chest which were shot from a close rangeand which were also probably what killed him. Other gunshots were found in the legs, hand and abdomen. He added that Zouka immediately received medical aid to treat the latter wounds which were certainly sustained during confrontations.

According to Zouka’s family, Zouka will be buried on Friday in his hometown in al-Saeed district in Shabwa. This is the first body that Houthi militias have delivered from the General People’s Congress military and security officials whom they killed in the past few days.

This article is also available in Arabic.