Houthi Militia Blocks Friday Prayers at Mosque in Yemen’s Amran Governorate

For the second consecutive week, Houthi militants have prevented worshippers from performing Friday prayers at a mosque in the Huth district of Amran province, triggering widespread public defiance against the group’s restrictive measures.

Local sources reported that Abdul Majeed al-Sharabi, the Houthi-appointed director of endowments in Huth, enforced the closure of the Al-Haj Ali Jarash Mosque. The militia attempted to mandate that residents relocate their prayers to a separate mosque under Houthi control, but the local community rejected these directives.

In a display of civil resistance, many residents chose to perform their Friday prayers in the street adjacent to the shuttered mosque. This act of defiance underscores a growing trend of societal pushback against Houthi efforts to exert absolute control over religious institutions and public life in the region.

The incident has sparked significant outrage among local inhabitants, who remain steadfast in their demand to worship in their own community mosque. Residents have characterized the Houthi interference as an unacceptable violation of their religious rights and an attempt to forcibly impose the group’s ideological agenda.

This development occurs against a backdrop of escalating tensions in Amran, where increasing public opposition to Houthi rule is being met with intensified suppression and administrative overreach by the militia. The ongoing dispute highlights the volatile relationship between the governing Houthi authorities and the local populations under their jurisdiction.