British Ambassador to Yemen: Houthis Send Children to Frontlines and Students to Qom
Michael Aaron, Britain’s ambassador to Yemen, says that Yemen’s Houthis are occupied with recruiting children to go to war fronts by changing school curricula in elementary schools, and are also sending students to Qom for studies.
Britain’s ambassador to Yemen said in an interview published on the sixth of Bahman in the newspaper “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat” that “the continued Houthi control over Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, has increased the influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in this war-torn country”.
He emphasized that “the Houthis, through school curricula and the recruitment of child soldiers, have worked to change Yemen’s Arab identity”.
Michael Aaron further stated that “the Houthis are in the process of changing Yemeni society and school curricula. They control and alter universities, send children to war fronts, and send students to Qom in Iran for education”.
He warned that the consequences of Houthi actions could be “catastrophic” for Yemeni society, saying that the longer this war situation continues, the influence of the Islamic Republic in the north of the country “increases”.
Aaron stressed that “within five more years, Yemeni society will be completely transformed by Iranian influence and Houthi ideology and traditions”.
Last September, a United Nations investigative panel wrote in a report that it had found evidence showing that Houthi insurgents had recruited dozens of teenage girls, some of whom became victims of sexual violence, and employed them as spies, military nurses, or members of a women’s military unit.
The report adds that Iran-backed Houthi insurgents have recruited children as young as seven years old through financial incentives, force, or peer pressure from schools, impoverished neighborhoods, and detention centers, subjecting them to brainwashing.
Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State, announced in the final days of Donald Trump’s administration the decision to add Houthi insurgents to the list of terrorist groups.
With the placement of Houthi insurgents on the terrorist groups list, all of that group’s assets in the United States will be frozen, transactions by American individuals and companies with them will be prohibited, and providing any kind of assistance to this group will be considered a crime.
Yemen’s war began in 2014 following the Houthi insurgents’ takeover of vast areas of the country, including Sana’a, the capital.
Saudi Arabia launched military operations in 2015 alongside a coalition of Arab countries in support of the legitimate government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi against Houthi militias.
Despite the ongoing war in Yemen, the Houthis continue to control Sana’a and other densely populated Yemeni cities.
Source: Radio Farda
