Houthis turning Yemen's mosques into arms warehouses

The Houthi group has deliberately
encroached on places of worship, especially mosques, since its 2014 coup in
Yemen.
The Yemeni Network for Rights and
Freedoms has accused the group of committing 3,370 violations against mosques
and places of worship in 14 Yemeni provinces between January 1, 2015 and April
30, 2022.
The network condemned the
terrorist crime committed by the group against the al-Ron village mosque in the
southern district of Hudaydah.
The attack left several civilians
dead, including children, and others injured.
The group staged the attack, while
worshippers performed the weekly Friday prayer.
Mosque renovation
The Houthis impose preachers on
mosques, distribute sectarian sermons, turn the Friday prayer sermons into
political speeches, and use the mosques as platforms for the spread of
misguided ideas and beliefs.
They also block loudspeakers
during Taraweeh prayers, prevent prayers in mosques and force worshippers out
of the mosques at gunpoint accompanied by a torrent of insults.
Videos that went viral have
recently shown Houthi militiamen storming a mosque in Sana'a and preventing
worshippers from performing prayers.
This incident was followed by a
wide campaign of arrests among citizens in the capital, against the backdrop of
filming and publishing the video.
The Houthi militia used
loudspeakers and mosque minarets to broadcast its leader's sectarian lectures
which are saturated with a culture of violence, incitement and mobilization.
Arms warehouses
The group has deliberately converted
a number of mosques in Sana'a into ammunition and weapons stores.
It uses these ammunition and
weapons in its war against Yemenis, according to the Council of Yemen's
Scholars.
The council said almost 50 mosques
in Sana'a and other Yemeni provinces have now become training camps and weapons
depots.
It noted that the Houthis had also
closed down a large number of mosques for allegedly violating the law.