Spoiling joy, Houthi militias forced Yemenis in areas under militia control to fast on the day declared by the country’s religious authorities as Islam’s Eid al-Fitr holiday, the day marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
Houthi coupists, who abide by Iran’s sectarian agenda, deployed banded militants and armored wagons to entrances of mosques and cemeteries to block worshippers from performing rituals due on the holiday.
According to local sources, Houthis triggered contempt among thousands in Sanaa, Ibb, Hodeidah, Taiz, Dhamar, and Umran who were forced to leave their hometowns for the holiday, fleeing insurgency militants who were arresting civilians by the hundreds.
Eyewitnesses reported Houthi militants raiding a mosque that serves an Isma'ili constituency which decided to celebrate the holiday on the same day approved by the country’s religious authorities but not by the Houthi-styled commission.
Houthis posting on social media went as far as calling for a death penalty for anyone who refuses to comply and observe the insurgency-set holiday.
Yemeni social media activists, for their part, blasted Houthi measures that have “divided the country into two blocs on one of Islam’s holiest holidays.”
Whilst Yemenis living in areas controlled by the internationally-recognized government reveled Eid al-Fitr activities, their fellow citizens in Houthi-run cities were forced to fast another day, buckling under the threat of militant might.
Neighborhood keepers in Sanaa, speaking under the conditions of anonymity for security purposes, told Asharq Al-Awsat that they received instructions to monitor locals and report any individual not fasting on the holiday to militant authorities.
But despite Houthi oppression, resilient worshippers in tribal areas flocked prayer sites for the holiday.
According to locals, worshipers amassed for Eid al-Fitr prayers in different parts of Ibb, Sharab, Taiz, Hodeidah, and Umran. In some areas, armed confrontations between devotees and Houthis erupted.
