Islamabad (Staff Reporter): Residents of Taiz Governorate on Friday buried 18 victims, most of them civilians, after Iranian-backed Houthi militias shelled a home on Mount Saber, local sources said.
Among those killed were Quran teacher Mushira and her father, Mohammed Qasim Ali, who lost their lives when a mortar shell hit their family home in the Jabal Saber area.
The victims were laid to rest after funeral prayers at Al-Saeed Mosque, where residents gathered to mourn those killed during renewed Houthi bombardment and localised clashes in Taiz.
The attack on Jabal Saber drew condemnation from local communities and human rights groups, who said the incident reflected the continuing toll of Yemen’s escalation on innocent lives.
Local sources said intense shelling in the Mount Saber region also hit educational and religious facilities. The Omar al-Tayyar Mosque and its accompanying school in al-Najd village were severely damaged.
According to human rights groups, Houthi forces have a long-documented record of using explosive devices to intentionally demolish homes and properties of political opponents, tribal rivals and critics across Yemen. Such blasts, they say, often cause secondary collapses in densely populated neighbourhoods, killing non-combatants, including women and children, and burying families under rubble.
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms reported that Iran-backed Houthi militias were responsible for demolishing 1,774 houses, civilian buildings and public and private properties in 17 governorates from September 2014 to August 2026.
In its report titled “Punitive House Demolitions: A Constant Terrorist Policy of Houthi Militias”, the Network documented the demolition of 1,129 residential homes, 136 mosques and Quranic schools, 179 bridges and public roads, 146 farms and water wells, 41 schools and educational premises, 39 government buildings and 19 health facilities.
The report also referred to the demolition of commercial buildings, political party-owned buildings and historical landmarks.
Human rights groups said the tactic had displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, depriving them of shelter and further compounding Yemen’s severe humanitarian crisis.
They said the deliberate planting of explosives in the homes of opponents and their destruction through devastating blasts had claimed civilian lives and forced entire families out of their homes.
The groups stressed that the deliberate destruction of residential properties and displacement of families were deeply reprehensible acts that undermined the fundamental principles of human rights and civilian protection. They called for strong condemnation and accountability for those responsible for harming civilians and destroying their homes.
