Violent confrontations broke out in Al-Bayda Governorate today, following an attack by the Houthi militia, targeting the “Hanaka” area, which left civilian casualties.
Hanaka is administratively affiliated with the Al-Qurayshiya District, one of the most important districts of Qayfat Radaa in Al-Bayda, whose tribes are historically the most ardent opponents of the rule of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias.
In statements to Al-Ain News, tribal sources said that the Houthi militias attacked, with heavily armed military patrols equipped with heavy artillery pieces and drones, the villages of the Al-Hanakah and Al-Khashaa areas in Al-Qurayshiya, which belong to the Al Masoud tribes, and imposed a stifling siege on them.
The sources added that the Al Masoud tribes refused to hand over and faced the militia attack, as a result of which armed confrontations erupted, since early Thursday.
Civilian casualties
The sources explained that the Houthi militias are randomly bombarding residential homes, farms, and drinking water wells with artillery shells and drones, resulting in deaths and injuries among civilians, and are also preventing civilians and patients from entering and leaving the area.
In a preliminary toll, sources indicated that about 13 people were killed or wounded, including women and children, in the Houthi attack on the Al Masoud tribe in Qayfa Radaa in Al Bayda.
The militias also imposed a stifling siege on the villages of the Hanakah and Al-Khashaa regions, and prevented the entry of natural aid into the health facilities in those villages, or the treatment of wounded civilians who were injured as a result of the hysterical bombardment with various weapons, in addition to drone aircraft.
The Houthi attack comes days after imposing a stifling siege on the residents of Al-Quraysh, while tribal mediation was making efforts to contain the tension between the tribesmen and the militias, but this mediation faltered - according to sources - in light of the militias’ escalation and bombing of citizens’ homes.
The Houthi attack also comes after the escalation of tensions since the arrival of a massive military campaign belonging to the militias, to the directorate a few days ago, under the pretext of pursuing those they described as “wanted,” which included large military reinforcements, including tanks and armored vehicles.
Previous crimes
This is not the first time that the Houthi militias have “abused” the people of Al-Bayda and its tribes. In August 2024, they militarily besieged the town of Hama Sarar in the Wald Rabei District, located in the northwestern part of Al-Bayda, and committed the worst crimes and violations against the town’s residents.
In March 2024, the Houthi militias besieged the Al-Hafar neighborhood in Radaa for weeks, before blowing up 8 houses, including one, leaving a massacre that shook Yemen and the world, resulting in about 30 dead and missing.
As previously, it invaded dozens of villages in various Al-Bayda districts, and also stormed homes in the town of Abs in Al-Shariya district, raided the homes of the Al-Sharjabi family, and launched a genocide war against the town of Khubza in the governorate through executions, bombing homes, confiscating property, and taking hostages to forcefully subjugate the tribes.