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Growing number of civilians being killed at Houthi security checkpoints

A string of killings linked to Houthi fighters have been blamed on the group’s use of underage fighters to man security checkpoints.
[additional-authors]
June 29, 2015

This article originally appeared on The Media Line.

A string of killings linked to Houthi fighters have been blamed on the group’s use of underage fighters to man security checkpoints. More than 100 deaths in Sana’a have been attributed as accidental killings – people killed by stray fire or shot due to a misunderstanding.

The fact that shortages of manpower are causing the Houthi to use child fighters at checkpoints throughout their territory appears to be contributing to the number of people killed accidentally.

After following up rumors of accidental killings linked to security roadblocks The Media Line has learned that the phenomenon is a common problem according to both the fighters operating the roadblocks and some of the families of victims of indiscriminate fire.

Accidental deaths have become so common at checkpoints in Sana’a that the traditional practice of giving rifles to an aggrieved family as compensation for an unintended slaying has become the main recourse for dealing with a death in such circumstances. According to the rules of tribal arbitration, if the family of the victim is not satisfied with the compensation then they can ask for “an eye for an eye” or financial redress.

In one such incident Bashir Al-Waqedi, a building contractor, was killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. “The Houthis came and fired randomly at people at a gas station,” said Mohammed

Al-Waqedi, who explained that the fighters fired indiscriminately outside a gas station because they believed an Al-Qa’ida suspect had mingled among the crowd gathered there. Mohammed’s brother was killed and two other men injured.

Mohammed confirmed that his family met with fighters from the checkpoint and that the whole incident had been brushed aside. “We had no choice,” he said.

“They recruit children who know nothing but to fire randomly [at people] at the checkpoints”, said Abdulaziz Al-Nuzaili, whose cousin was killed by a Houthi soldier’s gun at a checkpoint in Sana’a. Omar Al-Nuzaili was 27 and just four months away from being married. Abdulaziz explained how his cousin had worked as a qat dealer and so was rushing to get to market early in the morning. This cost him his life as a 16-year-old boy manning the checkpoint opened fire and struck Omar twice in the chest, killing him instantly.

When Abdulaziz Al-Nuzaili and his family went to the checkpoint to recover the body of their relative they were told that the death had been accidental and were offered two rifles as recompense. The Houthi fighters told Abdulaziz that they would not release the body or admit fault unless the family agreed to forgive the killing and take the offered price.

“We accepted the two rifles and told them that we forgave them,” Abdulaziz said, explaining that his family then went to one of the Houthi’s offices nearby and complained. In response the fighters from the checkpoint were moved to duties outside of Sana’a.

A day after Omar Al-Nuzaili was killed, Aisha Al-Haimi, a human rights activist and English language teacher was shot at another of Sana’a’s checkpoint.

“Aisha and I were on our way to break our fasting at a relative’s house, our car was being inspected,” said Nabil Al-Khader, Aisha’s husband. Fighters from the checkpoint tried to stop a passing motorbike by firing towards it – “One bullet hit my wife’s back, entering her lungs.”

Children from the checkpoint had rushed over to the dying woman and her husband and had apologized explaining that they had been aiming towards the suspected individual on the motorbike. This did not help Aisha, who was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery but succumbed to her wounds two days later.

Underage fighters recruited by the Houthi undergo some training before being distributed to a checkpoint or, if they show fighting ability, being sent to one of the front lines in Yemen or on the Saudi border.

“I am 17-years-old, I have been with the Houthis in this checkpoint for the past two months, I joined them about four months ago,” Asil Al-Zaiydi, a teen fighter stationed at a checkpoint in the south of Sana’a, said. During the fighters’ two months of training, the young men learned religious teachings, manners for interacting with people and how to use a weapon, and following this they are sent to man checkpoints, Al-Zaiydi said.

“But because our training period is so short, some of us just don’t understand fast enough, and all they learn is how to shoot,” Al-Zaiydi explained.

“We are humans, we make mistakes, but rarely,” one teen, nicknamed Abu Gaza, told The Media Line. Gaza, stationed in the east of the city, described the difficulty in controlling and searching all the people who pass through the checkpoint. “Sometimes a person who was not inspected or committed a violation escapes into the moving traffic – it’s difficult to locate him, forcing us to shoot at him.” If a fighter accidentally kills a civilian they are sent to another checkpoint or to fight on the war fronts, Gaza said.

When there is a case of accidental killing the shooter is always investigated, whether or not they are a member of the Houthi, Najib Al-Weshali, one of the group’s leading figures, told The Media Line. Actions are taken against shooters and victim’s families are compensated, Al-Weshali said.

Widespread use of child fighters is common throughout Houthi controlled territory, not just in Sana’a, explained journalist Muad Al-Jalidi. Minors are trained in the use of weapons and the techniques for stopping and inspecting vehicles and travelers, Al-Jalidi said. Further accidental deaths were highly likely due to the unsuitability of children for such military tasks, the journalist predicted.

“The responsibility for involving children in the conflict lies with the Houthi and other armed groups in Yemen,” Jamal Al-Shami, head of a charitable Democratic School in Sana’a, told The Media Line. These groups tempt children into bearing arms with stories of patriotism and national duty, Al-Shami said, and due to the levels of poverty in the country and the closure of schools since the outbreak of violence this rhetoric works.

More citizens are going to die as a result of underage fighters, Al-Shami believes, adding that his charitable organization had contacted the Houthi to ask them to cease recruiting children. The shi’ite group did not respond, Al-Shami said.

In 2007, Yemen signed a UN agreement guaranteeing the removal of all teenagers from its armed forces.

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