Police and army "dynamo" uncontrolled chaos in Taiz
English - Thursday 13 October 2022 الساعة 10:20 am
Taiz, NewsYemen, private:
The city of Taiz, which is under the control of the militias of the Islah Party, the local branch of the Brotherhood, recorded dozens of security incidents during the first ten days of this October, in light of the security chaos in the city and an unprecedented rise in the crime rate, as indicated by statistics collected by NewsYemen.
The most prominent of these incidents are the clashes that took place in the Al-Rawda neighborhood, the stronghold of armed militias, between Ghazwan Al-Mikhlafi and members of the 170th Brigade, against the background of looting a car loaded with a shipment of qat belonging to one of the vendors, which resulted in deaths and injuries on both sides.
In the past few days, the city of Taiz witnessed an armed attack on an exchange company by armed men affiliated with the Taiz axis, which resulted in the injury of a worker and the damage of banknotes of hard currency.
Hardly a day passes without a crime in the city, mostly committed by armed militants within the Taiz axis forces, amid the failure of the Brotherhood's security services to curb the chaos.
A survey conducted by NewsYemen, which included shop owners, taxi and motorcycle drivers, and sellers of vegetables and fruits, concluded that most of them do not trust the security forces and the army in Taiz, but rather see them as the cause of problems and crimes in the city.
The results of the poll were in agreement with a special statement to "Newsmen", from a security source - who asked not to be named - in which he said that most of the crimes in Taiz are committed by armed men affiliated with the army and security, and the Security Department is unable to arrest them because of their association with influential people in the military and security corps.
Citizens expressed their concern over the security chaos that is happening in the city and demanded the Presidential Command Council to take urgent measures to put an end to the problems of lawlessness and to appoint qualified military leaders to address the imbalance that has occurred for years in the city.
Daily levies on merchants and sellers
When you pass a street in Taiz, you find armed men in civilian clothes roaming the city and its markets with their weapons. You may fall victim to a quarrel in the event of a dispute between them and a shop owner, car driver, or Qat seller.
On a daily basis, shop owners are subjected to extortion from unarmed armed men who force them to pay sums of money or give them collectibles or goods without paying for them.
The owner of a shop in Taiz told "NewsYemen": "We do not find a law that protects us from them (the security and army gunmen in Taiz). We are subject to extortion or assault and endanger our lives."
Earlier, a gunman opened fire on a small grocery store in the lower Tahrir neighborhood in the city center, after its owner refused to give him food and consumer items without paying for them.
A security source told NewsYemen that the Public Prosecution issued compulsive orders to arrest suspects accused of crimes and cases in Taiz, but the governorate police did not arrest any accused, which confirms the involvement of military and security officials in supporting the armed gangs that tamper with the city.
The most prominent crimes during the first 10 days of October:
On the 3rd of this October, gunmen from Al-Judairi Police Station attacked the leader of the Popular Congress Party, lawyer Muhammad Omair Al-Barti, after storming his house in the Al-Ajinat neighborhood.
According to the sources, Al-Judairi police fired live bullets and hit the residents with rifle butts.
The sources stated that the security services did not arrest the individuals, the leadership of the department, and the gang accompanying them, despite telegrams to the Security Department arresting them and official communications.
On the same day, the citizen Mohammed Hazaa Al-Wahsh was killed after a gunman threw a grenade into his car in Al-Ma'afer district.
The city's merchants were not spared the attacks of security gunmen. On October 4, armed men cut off the merchant Hussam Al-Harawi and looted his money.
While the Criminal Investigation Department announced the arrest of the accused, it did not return what had been looted and only imprisoned him amid pressure on the merchant to drop the case.
On October 5, an armed gang led by Mubarak Hazza Ali Hassan attacked the Raziq Al-Qadi Grocery in Ammar bin Yasser neighborhood and threatened the uncontrolled weapons, without the security services arresting the accused and referring them to the Security Department.
On October 6, an armed gang wearing civilian and military uniforms attacked the Bakathir School and shot the car of the school principal, Samir Al-Aqel, because the school administration refused to register one of the sons of the armed elements.
On October 7, a terrorist bombing targeted a car of a citizen named Munther Al-Najashi in the Deluxe area, seriously injuring four civilians. After the incident, the police announced that the crime was criminal.
