Yemen defected army Kills 12, wounds dozens in Taiz

Last Friday turned out to be a bloody day for the southern town of Taiz as 15 civilians and soldiers were killed while dozens others were injured in an conflict opposing the armed forces and opposition militants who ignited the hostilities by shelling residential areas.

The government is now denying all allegations made by human rights activists who stated that the regime had ordered its troops to "massacre" civilians; accusing the dissident 1st Armored Brigade of having staged the assault in its continuing campaign of propaganda and defamation.

 “The one who shelled the women's praying area in "Liberty Square" is a man called Nabeel al-Adimi, a member of al-Islah party.

This is an official accusation,” said Abdo al-Janadi, the Deputy Minister of Information and the official government spokesperson “al-Adimi is working for dissident Air Force Commander of the First Armored Brigade, Sadeq Ali Sarhan."

Furthermore, according to al-Janadi, the assault on Taiz which resulted to the death of 3 women took place within an escalation campaign engineered, condoned and executed by the Joint Meeting Parties, the political coalition which stands against President Saleh.

They meant to coincide this new surge of violence with the visit in the country of UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar.

Al-Janadi added that Taiz Security Director, Abdullah Qairan, had been wrongly accused of initiating the attack, as can be proven.

Al-Janadi criticized the Opposition and international Media for ignoring regime loyalists' deaths, stressing that their view of the situation was biased.
 “Another attack was launched against Qaid al-Hibshi’san house, an ex-member of the political security. The attack resulted in the death of his granddaughter, Amal Abdulbasit Qaid, a four-year old little girl and the injury of another child and a woman. But the media omitted to mention them," said the Deputy Minister of Information.

A Yemeni news website announced a few days ago that an eye-witnesse had confirmed that the attack launched on the Square's praying ground came from al-Thawrah hospital, one the regime strongholds in the city.

The indiscriminate attack on Taiz led to 9 cases of street blocking and assaults, 4 cases of kidnapping, amongst whom civilians and soldiers and16 cases of breaking and looting governmental institutions. The official government spokesperson accused militants of the Muslim Brotherhood (members of al-Islah party) of being responsible of such criminal acts, adding that these militants were as well responsible for the attacks against the Republican Guards' barracks and the assault against civilians in Taiz, Arhab, Hajjah and al-Mahweet.
         
Subsequently, UN envoy, Jamal Benomar expressed his worries regarding the deteriorating security situation and the violence in many governorates, especially in Taiz. “I feel terribly sorry regarding the continued violence in several areas of Yemen and the mounting numbers of casualties. He added “I also feel sorry regarding the continued suffering of the Yemeni people in view of the electricity and water cuts as well as the fuel penury. As always it is the most vulnerable, women, children and elderly who are baring the blunt of this crisis."
A recent human rights report stressed that since the issuance of the 2014 UN Security Council resolution, 10 women and 18 children had been killed in Yemen. The report also stated that since January, 33 women and 63 children died as a direct result of the conflict.
    

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