Houthis have ‘vandalized’ 299 mosques

An official report revealed that 299 mosques have been vandalized in Yemen by Houthi militias since the coup that started earlier in 2015.

According to official SABA news agency, the report issued by the communication program held by Yemeni religious scholars, stated that 29 mosques were completely destroyed or bombed by the Houthis since they took over Yemen in several provinces, adding that 24 others were severely targeted and part of them were destroyed. 146 mosques were transformed into military barracks and sniper’s spots.

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The report also added that the Houthis turned the mosques into depots for heavy and medium weaponry, the mosques’ squares to training camps and mosques’ yards to places for Qat chewing and shisha.

The report also pointed out that the mosques that had food to be distributed to poor neighboring areas were stolen by militiamen who also looted microphones, speakers and other equipment.

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It disclosed that there are Houthi-Iranian arrangements aiming to target mosques, pointing out that the Houthis brought in press photographers of Iranian Alam channel and Lebanese Hezbollah al-Manar channel to cover the blowing up of Dar al-Hadeeth Center in Saadah.

In June, the Houthi militias had turned a mosque in the northwestern of Hajjah governorate into a place for chewing Qat.

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A photo that was circulated on social networking sites show Houthi rebels putting dozens of pictures of Badr Eddin al-Houthi, late spiritual leader of the group, on the pillars of Hajjah’s biggest mosques. This is religiously incompatible with the sanctity of worship places.

Back in July, Houthi militias had stormed a mosque in Amran governorate in the north of Sanaa, and burnt all the books in the mosque.