Houthis besiege Ibb's Ash-Shaer directorate

The Houthis (Ansarallah) have been imposing a siege on villages in the eastern Ibb province directorate of Ash-Shaer since mid March, local media outlets report.

The Iran-backed militia has reinforced its presence in the villages of al-Adana and al-Najd with armoured units in the Naqil al-Shaq area of Ash-Shaer directorate.

Houthi gunmen have abducted dozens of residents after armed ambushes targeted the militia's units on the main road.

The militia has abducted a number of residents in the areas of al-Ridai, Aden, al-Wazla, Thee al-Nimr, Naqil al-Shaq, demanding that their families pay large sums of money to secure their release.

'Caught between two fires'

"We are caught between two fires," Ash-Shaer resident Ahmad al-Shaeri told Al-Mashareq. "We are being subjected to extortion by the militias for any reason or no reason and are besieged in our homes."

Some residents have been imprisoned for objecting to Houthi dictates, he said.

The militia also has imposed tributes on the residents of some villages in Ash-Shaer district, which amounts to financial extortion, al-Shaeri said.

The Houthis began imposing the siege after three of their fighters were killed in a bomb blast on February 18th south of Naqil al-Shaq in al-Shaer district.

They also detained and imprisoned residents near the site of the attack as they conducted a search for the perpetrators.

"Families paid no less than 20,000 Yemeni riyals ($80) for the release of their sons, who were proven innocent of involvement in the incident," local resident Abdullah Ali told Al-Mashareq.

There have been similar instances of extortion in the villages of al-Haifa, Raha, Hakeel and Malhaki, he said.

Call to lift the siege

Minister of Local Administration Abdul-Raqib Fateh on March 17th condemned the Houthis for besieging and displacing the residents of Ash-Shaer district.

He called on the international community to use all means of pressure to lift the siege on all the provinces that are under the Houthis’ control.

Fateh urged international organisations operating in Yemen to rush to the rescue of civilians in Ash-Shaer and provide them with comprehensive relief and humanitarian supplies.

"The crimes of displacement, besiegement of residents, imposition of fines on them and imprisonment of their sons are crimes against humanity," said lawyer and human rights activist Abdul Rahman Barman.

The Houthis have committed all kinds of abuses against the people of the areas under their control and international human rights organisations have a duty to document and expose those crimes to the world, he told Al-Mashareq.