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| Arabia |
| Yemeni Army bomb Shia civilians in north |
| 2009-09-28 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] In a new assault, the Yemeni military has bombarded residential areas in the Shia-populated north, killing and wounding dozens and destroying homes. According to Houthi resistance fighters, the military planes "deliberately" targeted residential areas in Baghem district as well as Dammaj in Saada province, leaving dozens of civilians dead or wounded. In south Saada, according to the Houthis, a military armored vehicle was destroyed by the fighters. The leader of Yemeni fighters, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has accused the government of discriminating against his people, vowing to continue the fight as long as attacked by the army forces. "(The war) is part of the official discrimination, marginalization and separation practiced against us as a social group described by the authorities as a minority," al-Huthi said in a statement on Sunday. "The war, the destruction and the arrests ... are being waged against our culture," he said, adding that the government detains Zaidis "on ethnic and sectarian grounds". In an effort to crush the Zaidi fighters, the government launched an offensive against the mountainous north, leaving hundreds of civilians dead and thousands of others displaced. The government who has so far failed to observe two ceasefires in the region, warned earlier that it will not backtrack, even if the war takes five or six years. The Yemeni president had announced, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, that the war with the Shia fighters would be over in two weeks. |
| Posted by:Fred |