Killing tribal Leader Ahmed al-Sakani wasn’t the first Houthi treason as they have earlier killed Sheikh Majid al-Assadi.
Houthis are carrying out these assassinations to defend their leaders who are looting Yemenis’ lands, colluding with the killer and smuggling him.
“Whenever we demand to punish the perpetrator, the militias procrastinate,” said tribal Leader Saad al-Hamadani, adding that the group doesn’t want to lose any of its killers.
He said Houthis need their criminals for future assassination missions against tribal sheikhs or citizens. “That's why they secure their escape,” he noted.
Houthis’ humiliation and extortion methods vary against Yemeni sheikhs. They start by threatening and intimidating them, they would later abduct them or impose house-arrest and finally kill them.
“Militias prepare lists of those who turned against or stopped supporting them,” one of Bani Matar’s sheikhs told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He explained that they threaten these people and harass them to execute their leaders’ wills and instructions, who force them to provide fighters and funds, open sectarian centers and receive their preachers.
“If the sheikh doesn’t respond to the militias, they send people after him or ambush him if he was outside the city.”
“If he resists, they will kill him. However, if he obeys their orders, they detain him for a period of three weeks or one month without providing any information to his family,” the sheikh added.
“Few people came to my house, and I was told by one of them that Mohammad Ali al-Houthi wanted to meet me and discuss a topic concerning the area where I live,” explained Sheikh al-Wassabi, who was abducted from Dar al-Salam region.
He said he was blindfolded for privacy reasons, adding that they kept him waiting in a room for two whole days before meeting one of their elements.
"They forced me to express their conviction and pledge to receive their preachers before returning me home after four weeks," he noted.
